


Beach Burgers and Fries

by Thea_Luthor



Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: Adulting, Branding, Children, F/M, Pregnancy, Restaurants, Unplanned Pregnancy, creative menu planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:14:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28098252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thea_Luthor/pseuds/Thea_Luthor
Summary: Change can be good, despite what Bob Belcher might think.  In the week leading up to the reopening of the restaurant, the new generation deals with catastrophes big and small, personal and professional, and reminisces on how they got here.
Relationships: Bob Belcher/Linda Belcher, Louise Belcher/Logan Bush, Tina Belcher/Zeke (Bob's Burgers)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	1. Monday: You're a Peach Burger (peach, mozzarella, and homemade pesto) and How About some Sex on the Beach?

# Monday

# You're a Peach Burger (peach, mozzarella, and homemade pesto),

# How About some _Sex on the Beach?_

The sound that greeted her upon entering the house, after placing her keys on the hook by the door, was a series of muffled thuds, followed by grunts that were increasing in volume. Louise was pretty sure what she’d see once she passed the short wall that served as a divider between the entryway of her home and the living room/dining room combo. Sure enough, as she peeked her head around, her eyes found her two oldest children repeatedly hitting their father with a pillow as he laid on his back on the couch and read something on his tablet. Juniper, the baby, ignored her brothers while she jumped in her exersaucer, entranced by the stock tickers as they crawled past on the plasma tv screen hung above the fireplace. Sesame Street couldn’t hold her attention, neither could Bubble Guppies. But put on Bloomberg TV and she was quiet for hours.

“Ouch! Goddamnit, Peyton!” finally Logan showed a response, sitting up quickly, and yanking the pillow out of his oldest’s hands, “I told you to not hit me lower than the tummy. I haven’t decided if I want to give you another younger sibling yet or not.” He stared down the seven year old who met his glare momentarily, before caving and starting to tear up. His tears upset his younger brother, Nicky, who also started to tear up.

“Ugh, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Logan rolled his eyes and pulled both boys into a hug. “That’s a sensitive area. You need to be more careful.”

“It is?” asked Nicky, who was interested in everything.

“Yes,” Logan sighed, “you’ll understand when you’re older.” His eyes caught Louise’s small movement and a shit eating smile lit up his face. “Look! Mommy’s home!!” he cried, causing both boys to power jump off him, earning another grunt, and launch themselves toward her. Juniper noticed the movement behind her and swung around, bouncing more furiously in her saucer, reaching her little arms up toward her mother. Logan’s long strides ate up the floor and in what seemed like four steps he had lifted Juniper into his arms and made it to where Louise was standing. He leaned in to kiss her cheek while Louise smirked at him.

“Were you good for Daddy today?” she asked as Peyton and Nicky tried to climb up her body like cats on a scratching post. Climbing her was much less fun than climbing Logan, who was taller than her by almost a foot.

“We’re always good,” said an innocent looking Peyton, who had inherited both his parents’ hellraising tendencies.

“Is that why I heard you getting yelled at as soon as I walked in the door?”

“It was an accident,” her oldest replied, while Nicky nodded furiously beside him. 

“Wonderful. Why don’t you wash your hands for dinner?” she turned to Logan and pulled Juniper out of his arms so that the baby could give her a fierce hug and a sloppy kiss. Once the boys had run out of the room she turned back to Logan. “Honestly, how did it go today?”

“Everything was fine. Fishoeder’s just as easy to watch as Juniper: they’ll just sit and stare at the financial channel in silence for hours. I think he had a longer nap than she did.”

“He’s getting old,” Louise said, with a slightly sad tinge to her tone.

“He _is_ old,” Logan countered, “he’s _always_ been old. I didn’t realize you were so attached to him.” Leaving her to walk into the kitchen area, he went to the cabinets to get plates while Louise put Juniper on her feet to try to coax her into walking to the kitchen. Both Peyton and Nicky had been quick to walk, forcing her and Logan to develop lightning reflexes. Juniper appeared content to be carried around like the princess all four of her grandparents called her. Louise rolled her eyes every time. Who were these people and what had they done with her and Logan’s parents?

Her majesty looked interested in cooperating today, so Louise walked a few steps away, keeping her eye on the baby, but continuing the conversation with Logan.

“I wouldn’t say attached. But he owns basically the whole town. What happens when he dies? Who takes over then? _Felix_? That’s enough to make me want to jump off the pier.” She continued walking backwards toward the eating area, while Juniper reluctantly followed her.

“Mr. Fish may be crazy, but he’s not stupid. I’m sure his will leaves Felix something ridiculous, like a gingerbread house, but the rest of the estate is put together well. His lawyer is pretty with it, so I wouldn’t worry.”

“Still, I’m glad that we were able to cobble together the money to buy the building that the restaurant and my parents’ apartment is in. That’s one less thing to worry about.” She traded off watching Juniper with Logan and spun around to get food on the table from the stove and oven, a dance they had perfected in their seven years of marriage with children underfoot. “You know, when I was eight years old, I was sure I was going to be a future ex-Mrs. Calvin Fischoeder.” 

Logan took a second to smirk at her again. “So what you’re telling me is that you’ve always had a thing for older men.”

She rolled her eyes at him and turned away, but she was smiling as she did so.

TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL

Dinner with three children under eight years old was a full contact sport. Peyton tried to be an adult, but had very poor fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, so a good portion of his food ended up flung all over the place. He did manage to get a decent amount in his mouth, though.

Nicky was born to sit a hunger strike. It didn’t matter what they put in front of him, he “didn’t like it.” Louise and Logan had made the decision early that they were not going to live under the reign of terror of a pint sized tyrant, _any_ pint sized tyrant, so their strategy with Nicky was to leave him alone at the table until he ate the meager portions on his plate.

Juniper, while reluctant to walk, absolutely refused to be fed. She clutched her spoon in one hand like a weapon, ready to bat away anyone who wanted to help her. Her parents had resorted to giving her small portions of each item on the dish of her high chair. She would eventually get at least a bite of everything in her mouth, but it might take hours. First she had to experiment with everything, feeling it, swirling it around her dish, smelling it. Bob was convinced this was a sign of her ultra refined palette. Louise was convinced that this was part of the curse Linda had laid on her for her rambunctious childhood. “I hope you have a baby _just like you_ one day!”

“Zeke and my dad will be here tomorrow morning about 9 o’clock for the harvest,” Louise mentioned between bites and glares at Nicky, who was stubbornly ignoring her and giving his plate the stink eye.

“Ok. I don’t have to babysit Calvin tomorrow, so the kids and I will have a nice quiet afternoon.” Logan had been able to swing a very flexible schedule with his employer, which surprised absolutely no one. Mr. Fischoeder was a complicated character, but he absolutely adored Logan and Louise for what he called their “innate, cutthroat nature, reminds me of myself at their age...except for all the children,” who he latched onto like they were his adopted grandchildren. Most days, Logan was able to bang out his daily assignments from his office at the house before Louise left to handle lunch at Bob’s Burgers with Bob and Zeke. Then he was free to mind the children until Louise got home sometime in the afternoon. Since she and Logan lived furthest from the restaurant, Bob and Zeke, along with Tina and Linda most days, handled dinner. Louise and Zeke knew that they wouldn’t get Bob off the grill until he could no longer stand, so they took over other parts of running the restaurant, including the most daring move yet, rebranding and transitioning the hole-in-the-wall to a gastro pub, poised to be the millennial hotspot of Seymour’s Bay, attracting new customers, but still comfortable enough to not alienate their regulars.

The official grand reopening would be this weekend, Memorial Day, the official start of the summer tourist season. Weather reports were good, so everyone in town was hoping for a rush of people. Instead of busing tables and washing dishes, these days Louise put her community college education to use in marketing and business, making sure that word about their new venture was getting into the right ears and choosing decor to put forth the decided upon aesthetic. Zeke and Bob were most of the brains behind the unique “burger of the day” and artisanal cocktail pairings. With his college background in botany, Zeke, with Bob as his enthusiastic assistant, had turned a good portion of Louise and Logan’s yard into an organic garden, using most of the produce at the restaurant. Zeke also grew smaller plants, like herbs, spinach, and lettuces, in rooftop gardens at the buildings where both his and Tina’s and Bob and Linda’s apartments were located. Surprisingly, Cynthia pitched in to help tend to the gardens, since she had been ousted from control over the Community Garden thanks to a vicious coup. 

It was Monday; in five days the doors would open on “Beach Burgers,” a venture that everyone in the family had some kind of involvement in. Louise felt confident that they would be a success. She had done her homework, worked hard, and they had the best food around. Now it was just a matter of hoping for the best. Even if it was slow to start, everyone had enough of a cushion to get by.

“Maybe you can take a nap,” Louise teased him, “we’ve got plans tomorrow night.”

“Doing what?” Logan asked hesitantly.

“Just out with Zeke and Tina. It’s the third Tuesday.” 

“Where are we going?” again Logan was being cagey. Louise glared at him.

“To the new clam bar on Kingshead Island. Why are you being so weird?”

Logan visibly relaxed. “Oh. Cool. I just didn’t remember if Gene and Courtney’s new show was opening this week or not.”

“I would have cut him if he tried to open something the same week as the restaurant. They’re supposed to be prepping for their gala performance at BB on Saturday.”

Logan slumped down in his seat and looked at the ceiling. “Oh, right, I forgot they were performing at the opening.”

Louise glared at him again. “Don’t start.”

“I’m not...I just forgot.” She knew that Logan liked, if not loved, all her family. Honestly, considering what a horrific dick he had been as a teenager, she had convinced herself that most of their forecasted short relationship would be spent reaming him out for slights against her parents or siblings. But he never had once they got together. He slid onto the Belchers like a beloved sock. The two of them and Zeke and Tina even had a standing double date night together once a month.

Gene and Courtney, on the other hand, put Logan on edge. When she was being charitable, Louise could admit that her brother was a bit much. But he was her brother and she would murder anyone that crossed him. In his defense, Logan seemed to legitimately like both Gene and Courtney...when he was dealing with them separately. It was both of them together that made him grind his teeth. When she asked him about it, Logan claimed that his old age made him uncomfortable with their overdramatic, loud, uber-progressive lifestyle. Louise didn’t push, even though, while Logan might be six years older than her, he was only two years older than Tina and Zeke. It wasn’t like he was pushing fifty. But his playing the age card was a warning that they were heading into territory he didn’t want to be pushed into. So she usually left it unless she was really itching for a fight.

“I promise you won’t be in charge of the talent on Saturday. I need you to schmooze the customers, anyway. Put that beautiful, slappable face of yours to good use.”

He smirked darkly at her, “whatever you want, Four Ears.”

“Daddy,” Nicky chose that moment to enter the conversation, giving him a legitimate excuse to ignore his food, “Mommy doesn’t have four ears.”

“Not anymore, Nicola,” Logan replied, then leaned in like he was revealing a big secret, “but she used to.”

“Watch it,” Louise warned, pointing her knife at him threateningly.

“What happened to the other ears?” asked Peyton, covering his own ears with his hands.

“She outgrew them, but not before she threatened to have mine cut off!”

“ _Logan…_ ” his name was a threat.

“Why?” Nicky looked near tears again. Because if their beloved mother could threaten to have their beloved father’s ears cut off, was there anything she wouldn’t do?

“Oh, I was a very naughty boy; I probably deserved it,” Logan admitted.

“ _Probably_?” Louise raised an eyebrow.

“Was she going to cut them off herself?” asked Peyton. Even Juniper stopped creating art with her food and stared enraptured at Logan.

“Of course not,” Logan chuckled, “how would she ever reach them?”

The boys smiled at that. Their mother was very tiny compared to their dad.

“So then who was going to cut them off?” asked Nicky.

“Uncle Critter,” Louise provided, smiling her Grinch smile at her husband.

“Oh, Daddy, that’s just silly. Uncle Critter wouldn’t ever cut your ears off,” Peyton laughed.

“That _is_ silly,” Louise smiled in triumph at the glare Logan shot her across the table. It wasn’t her fault if Logan was stupid enough to believe that a motorcycle gang would actually do what a nine year old girl demanded and slice off the ears of some suburban bully. It was especially ridiculous to the children, who were babysat from time to time by Sidecar, Critter and Mudflap’s son, when the seventeen year old wasn’t picking up shifts at Bob’s for some extra cash. The One Eyed Snakes trio was practically extended family, especially since they had gone straight. Critter and Mudflap were currently the most successful mechanics in town.


	2. Tuesday: The Old Man (Bacon, gouda) and "The Sea Water" (our take on "Muddy's Water") served with a side of sweet potato fries

  
  


Louise and Logan felt the sun set behind them at the ferry pier while they waited for Tina and Zeke the following evening. They sat on the retaining wall with their backs to the parking lot, looking out over the darkening water.

“You remember our ferry date?” Logan asked, giving her the space she liked in public, but enjoying the quiet calm that was too rare in their lives these days.

“I remember arguing with you and not realizing that we were on the ferry until it left the dock.” She didn’t turn to look at him, but he knew she was smiling.

“Sounds about right,” he reached out and squeezed her hand briefly.

“Logan Berry Bush, you romantic fool!” Louise chuckled.

“Only for you, Mrs. Bush,” this time he did look at her. She met his eye and chuckled.

“We both lost the name lottery, didn’t we?”

“Yup.”

“Well, ‘Zeke’s’ not exactly a name dreams are made of either,” said a familiar voice from behind them. Turning around, Louise and Logan saw their partners in crime had finally arrived.

“Everything goes with ‘Smith,’ so at least that makes things easier,” remarked Tina as she drew up alongside her sister.

Early adulthood had been very good to both Zeke and Tina. During high school, Zeke had funnelled as much of his energy as he could into sports teams, making it easier for him to relax and focus on schoolwork. He actually graduated with a decent GPA, but by that point, he had a reason to do well. 

During his junior year, he had started working for Bob, in need of extra cash and a flexible schedule. This meant working alongside Tina, who was at first resistant, especially since she was still upset about Bob’s favoritism toward Zeke during the Home Ec-staurant debacle, and her competition with Zeke for Jimmy Jr.’s attention. However, Zeke was a hard worker, and didn’t get in her way. Over time, they became friendly to the point where privately, Tina would admit that he was her  _ best  _ friend, outside of Gene and Louise, of course. One of the most compelling things in Zeke’s favor was that he always seemed interested in Tina as she was, not only liking to spend time with her when she was the last option, like Jimmy Jr., or wanting her to change, like Josh sometimes hinted at. Zeke stood up for Gene when her artsy little brother had trouble adjusting in high school. And he got on with Louise like a house on fire.

All the sports had also bulked up his frame and chiseled it out like it was made of marble in the hands of a Renaissance master. And he had an ass that wouldn’t quit.

That didn’t hurt in changing Tina’s mind about him.

By the time graduation rolled around, Tina and Zeke were thick as thieves, either working, hanging out, or at least talking to each other every day. For the space of a few heartbeats, Tina regretted her decision to go away to college, knowing that she’d be leaving Zeke behind to do who knows what. But she kept thinking of the adage that if they were meant to be something more, they would be. It would be fate.

She kept him at arms’ length until she came home for the summer after freshman year. For all of June and July, they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other. By this point, Zeke was basically a member of the family. It was a risk to allow their relationship to develop into something more, but something about it just felt so right. They had been blissfully together even since.

Tina had been a bit of a late bloomer, still rather awkward and gangly throughout high school. She had grown more mature while away at college. All the walking around campus got her in better shape, which made her like her body more, which made her appreciate her sensual nature even more, something Zeke was the main beneficiary of. She also liked the blank slate that going away to school provided her. It allowed her to participate more fully in class and activities without the stress of dealing with comments from the Tammys of the world. College changed Tina for the better, and everyone was thrilled at how happy she was with her adult life: working with horses at the stable just outside town, submitting original short stories for contests and publications, and being a partner in the soon to reopen Beach Burgers. 

She looked at her little sister, and wanted to hug her, wondering if everyone could sense her joy right now, but hoping it could stay her secret.

The foursome made their way onto the ferry and before too long were seated at a small table at the brand new clam bar on Kingshead Island. After placing their order, they each looked around.

“I thought there were ordinances here that Kingshead was supposed to be residential only,” Logan muttered in irritation.

“They do have a commercial district on Main Street,” Tina mentioned, but shared his concern. If they started opening restaurants on Kingshead, the rich people wouldn’t come to the mainland to eat.

“I can look into it tomorrow,” Logan shared a look with his sister in law.

“Let’s not worry until there’s something to worry about,” Zeke added, glancing at his watch to time how long between placing their order and getting their food. “This isn’t exactly apples to apples competition, anyway.”

“Would you add shellfish to the menu?” Tina asked.

Zeke and Louise shared a look. “Probably not, unless inspiration really strikes. If we did, it would probably only be a special or something. We’re always, at our core, going to be about burgers.” Louise answered, noticing that even though it was a Tuesday, the place was three quarters filled. Although, it was brand new, so the novelty hadn’t worn off yet.

“Why didn’t they wait until this weekend to open like we are? They could have pulled in tourists,” Logan mentioned, taking a pull of his cocktail and making a face. He moved it over to Louise so she could sample. She took a hesitant sip. It wasn’t terrible, but it tasted watered down and not made with fresh ingredients. Their stuff was better.

“Maybe this is like a soft opening, working all the kinks out before real business starts,” Zeke seemed more impressed with his drink, and, like the others, passed it around so everyone could try. There were no secret germs in this family. “We’ve been in business and practicing for the rebrand for years, so we don’t need a soft open.” He shared a smug look with his brother in law.

Louise tried Zeke’s drink. It was better than the one Logan had ordered, but still not as good as their stuff. Certainly not good enough to warrant a ferry ride. She’d only be concerned if the food knocked her socks off. But they weren’t off to the best start.

“Do they really get tourists here on the island?” Tina asked.

“Not really tourists, but the summer renters will definitely be here this weekend,” Logan answered. Which was good for them. There was more flow on the mainland, especially within sight distance of Wonder Wharf. And even the renters wouldn’t eat here three meals a day for a solid week.

It was at that point that Louise noticed that the cocktail train had derailed in front of TIna. In fact, Tina had only ordered a club soda with a lime.

“T,” Louise began slowly, “are you feeling ok?”

Tina stared at her and Zeke looked uncomfortable. Logan caught on quickly and started to look hopefully excited.

“Not particularly,” Tina said, not really answering. Logan, the moron, still looked like Christmas had come early and kept trying to get Zeke to meet his eye. Zeke resolutely split his time between looking at Tina with worry and attempting to glare at Louise. Louise scoffed at him. 

That look was his best attempt to intimidate her into dropping the subject?

It’s like he didn’t even know her.

However, Tina looked increasingly uncomfortable, so, taking pity on her, and kicking Logan in the shin to get him to behave, she tried to change the subject.

“How long has been it since the order went in?” she asked, knowing that Zeke was keeping score, “they’re not that busy, it shouldn’t take this long to get appetizers.”

Zeke looked relieved and reported the time. Logan looked mostly deflated, but also irritated by the kick. Tina hadn’t changed expression.

“Is it that obvious?” Tina asked suddenly, not seeming too pleased.

Now it was Louise and Logan’s turn to share a look. Louise sighed. “Tina, I’ve had three children, and the four of us are together enough that I can notice when you do something out of the ordinary.”

Logan was all sympathy. “Shellfish wasn’t the best idea for tonight. We could have gone somewhere else, or canceled.”

“I didn’t want to cancel,” Tina lashed at Logan, which was another out of character thing for her.

“Bird, do you want to go home?” Zeke’s voice was soft like goose down. But it appeared to be the breaking point.

“No, I don’t want to go home.” Tina slammed her fists down on the table, making the cutlery jump. She looked shocked and near tears. “Please excuse me,” she said quietly, before running from the table.

Louise shared a look with Logan and Zeke, “Well,” she said, rising and putting her napkin on her chair, “looks like I get to check out the bathroom.”

She followed her sister’s retreating form through the dining room into the back of the restaurant, where the ladies’ room sign could be found.

TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL

“Tina,” Louise called, after checking that only stall was in use in the restroom. “You wanna talk about it?”

“IthinkI’mpregnantbutIdon’twantanyonetoknowyetandyoufigureditoutinfiveminutesandhowamigoingtodealwithMom?” as usual when she was really upset, all of Tina’s words were strung together.

“Ok, so you think you’re pregnant,” Louise began, trying to unpack everything in the sentence word.

“Yes,” Tina answered soggily from inside the stall.

“What makes you think you’re pregnant?”

“The two lines on the pee stick, Louise! Weren’t you just telling me that you’ve had three children? Shouldn’t you already know that?” Tina’s sarcasm was rare and cutting. She usually kept that to the written word. It was an indicator of just how upset she was.

“Well, it’s your first pregnancy, I didn't know how sure you were. I didn’t realize things my first one for a stupid long while.”

“Thissdflaeiofhe…” Tina muttered something from inside the stall that Louise completely missed.

“What? Tina, I can’t understand you.”

“I said, ‘this isn’t my first pregnancy.’” Her sister answered with finality.

“Ok,” Louise tried not to jump to conclusions, “do you want to talk about it?”

She heard TIna gulp down a sob and turn the lock so the stall door swung open. Thankfully, her pants were up. “This is the third time I’m doing this.”

“Ok,” Louise leaned in the open stall doorway.

“I had a false pregnancy a little while after Zeke and I got together, while I was in college.”

“What’s a false pregnancy?” asked Louise, from her position of very “by the book” reproductive health.

“It’s when your body exhibits all the signs of a pregnancy, you even pass a pregnancy test, but when you have an ultrasound, there’s no baby.”

“Oh, shit,” Louise said, and slid down into a crouch to get more comfortable, “that happened when you were in college?”

“Yeah, spring semester junior year. I wasn’t too upset about the possibility of having a kid so young, things were solid with me and Zeke and the restaurant was doing well. I figured with the timing, I could finish everything but maybe my last semester before the baby was born. And maybe I could even have the baby and finish up on time. But it turned out to be nothing. I never even told Zeke about it at the time. It was over and done before it was a thing. So I thought, yeah, it’s for the best. Who wants to be tied down with kids so young?” Then she grimaced. “Sorry, Louise. I don’t mean…”

“It’s fine, we’re talking about you,” she’d spent seven years already talking about being a ‘young mother,’ once more wasn’t going to break her heart, “so that was the first one. What happened with the second one?”

“It was two years ago. Zeke and I had already been married for a year, so we stopped preventing, you know? Nature took its course and I got pregnant. Everything seemed normal. Took the test, saw the doctor. But I had a miscarriage at about six weeks in. It’s why we took that long vacation. I wanted to be away from everyone to recuperate.”

Well, at least that made sense now. Tina and Zeke had absconded for three weeks during the busy season to Logan’s parents house in Florida. No one knew what to make of it, but Zeke went white hot with rage whenever anyone attempted to ask about it, even threatening to quit if the absence was “going to be a problem.” Jesus.

“Ok, so that brings us to this time,” Louise wanted to move her sister along so that she didn’t get bogged down in sadness over what might have been.

“Right. You’re supposed to wait for a while after you have a miscarriage before trying, so we did and Zeke and I have  _ been  _ trying. I started to feel off a couple weeks ago. Tired and not interested in eating. I took a test, and it was positive. Saw the doctor, had the ultrasound. Everything is on the up and up. But, because I’ve had a miscarriage before, we don’t want to tell anyone until we’re in the second trimester. Miscarriages are less likely after twelve weeks. So between not wanting to have to answer questions and with the reopening, we wanted to keep everything quiet. No one has said anything, but if it took you five minutes to figure it out, Mom’s going to smell it on me as soon as I go into the restaurant. And she’s going to ‘Mom’ all over it and I honestly just don’t want to deal with that stress on top of the reopening.”

“That’s the right decision,” Louise said, standing and remembering Linda’s reaction to each of her pregnancies, but especially her first. And Linda actually liked Tina, so that would make it a hundred times worse. “Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re not going to the restaurant until this weekend. Mom will be too busy to notice that you’re acting off, and she’ll have Gene to fawn all over. If she  _ does  _ start sniffing around, you can tell her that the stress of the opening is making you feel off.”

“But who’s going to help with the dinner rush if I’m not there?”

“I will.”

“But, Louise, you have Logan and the kids to go home to.”

“And you’re going to have that soon, too. Besides, Asshole and the three hellions can deal with my absence for a couple days until we figure out what your schedule is going to look like after the opening.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. That’s the benefit of this being a family business. We help out family.”

“Aww, Louise,” Tina sniffed and stood up, “I can’t hug you, can I?”

Louise rolled her eyes but took pity on her sister, “Ok, fine. Thirty seconds!”

TIna squeezed her, hard, for the entirety of the allotted time. Louise bore it with as much grace as she could muster. When the hugging was done, Tina cleaned herself up and they rejoined the boys at the table. The appetizers had finally arrived, but Logan and Zeke paced themselves so that there would be some left for Louise. Tina’s mozzarella sticks were left completely alone, since that was one of the few things on the menu that a newly pregnant lady could safely eat.

They tucked in and spent the rest of the evening either discussing the pros and cons of the clam bar or debating the cinematic brilliance of the latest zombie movie again. Logan and Tina were on the same side, as usual, while Louise argued for the sake of arguing and Zeke just sat back, a satisfied look on his face at the noisy banter.

TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL

Logan was on her like moss on a tree as soon as he had their front door closed behind him. He had her lifted up against the wall next to the key hooks before she really knew what was happening.

“Not wasting any time, are you?”

“Are you kidding, with all three cockblockers at my parents’ house until tomorrow morning? No way!”

She chuckled quietly before leaning forward and dragging his lower lip through her teeth. It was always like this. Even after three kids, almost a decade of being together, and having settled into boring married life, Logan took every opportunity he could to get his hands on her. He was very aware of giving her space when there were people around, even if it was just family. But once they were alone, it was like he grew four more arms. 

“You are so fucking hot when you’re nurturing,” he moaned in her ear as she sucked and nibbled on his neck.

“Ew. You have weird kinks, you know that?”

“Yes,” he answered honestly, “seriously though, it’s a side of you that only I get to see. It’s private. It’s all mine.” Typical possessive, spoiled only child.

“Yes, you  _ and  _ our children.”

“Right, the children I put in you when you were moaning under me...or on top of me. Doesn’t matter the position, I’m not picky.” He had time to talk now because he was carrying her up the stairs to their bedroom. They had learned pretty early on that while standing, kissing was uncomfortable for both of them thanks to the height difference. So they either had to be sitting together or laying down, or Logan had to lift her up. Louise was convinced that being able to pick her up was the sole reason that Logan worked out. Otherwise, he would have allowed himself to melt into dadbod by now. 

But no, even after three babies, she had stayed pretty much the same size, so he was still able to pick her up and carry her around at will. Which she pretended was annoying, but was actually really arousing.

Just like him taking over was arousing, which she was all about when they were alone. For the most part, she called all the shots in their relationship, and he, cognizant of her needs, let her. But sometimes, he pushed and she let him, because it was nice to have someone else drive. Most of the time this showed up as him being aggressively passionate when they were alone. She liked that he did that, always had, even in the beginning of their sexual relationship when things were still weird as they moved from enemies to friends to lovers. But she liked it because she knew that he was always, always tuned in to her, and if she started to get hesitant or not like something, he stopped immediately and they did something else. It might look like they fought like cats and dogs, but in reality she trusted him more than anyone else, and it allowed her to be vulnerable with him. Which he fed off of, which just made things hotter.

The other thing that they learned pretty early on was that Logan couldn’t multitask all that well when he thought that sex was imminent. Moving hands and mouth at the same time would work, but kissing and trying to walk upstairs was not a good idea. They had almost landed in the ER trying to do that once. He made up for that lack of kissing and licking with his version of dirty talk until he had her in their bedroom.

“You’ve always been the most “with it” girl I’ve ever met, that’s why I couldn’t ever stay away from you. You were the only one who ever challenged me. I didn’t even understand what it was until you almost clipped me with that plate.”

He paused on the stair to suck on her neck. Damnit. She was going to have a hickey again tomorrow. And it was too hot to wear a turtleneck.

“Damnit, Logan!”

“That’s right, baby, say my name. We waited a long time for each other, and we have the rest of our lives to fight and fuck every day...and I plan to.”

“This is probably your worst dirty talk ever.”

Logan stopped and looked at her nervously. “But you’re still into it, right?”

She smirked at him and wound fingers into his hair to yank him down into a kiss. 

“Yeah,” Louise said breathily, “I’m still into it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This burger was really good. I wasn't a huge fan of the cocktail...but I think that's just because I'm not really a huge fan of any cocktails. ::sigh::


	3. Wednesday: Kelp Me, I can't swim Burger (Broccoli Rabe with a parmesan-balsamic reduction) and Seymour's Bay Iced Tea (our take on a Long Island iced tea)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for this chapter: pregnancy, specifically teen pregnancy
> 
> This is probably the longest chapter.

When Louise was sixteen, Logan had come home from college to live at his parents’ house, rent free, because, why not? He had gotten a job working remotely for an internet startup, which meant that all day, every day, he was at his parents’ house...with his mother, who was bored and hadn’t had anyone to micromanage for four years while he was away at school. Eating nearly every meal out had been an act of desperation, needing to look at other walls for his sanity. He had initially walked into Bob’s Burgers because he remembered that the food was good, and more importantly, he could get “dinner and a show:” eat the food and verbally spar with Louise. 

She was almost a fully grown woman at the time and he had to do a double take when he first saw her again, bunny ears gone and body filled out. He wouldn’t have been able to place her at all if not for the disgusted look on her face, the look he had convinced himself she only had for him. He liked to tell himself that he would have been a bit more suave if the shitheads from across the street, on top of a couple other kids from her high school, didn’t keep showing up to try to catch her eye. He reverted into his worst possible fifteen year old self to make sure that she only had eyes for him. So what if he nearly pissed himself when Critter casually walked through the door during a regular lunch rush? The important part is  _ nearly _ . 

Things came to a head, literally, one night when he hung around until closing. Two important things had happened that day. The first was that the older douche from across the street had come in and actually asked her out. If looks could kill, Logan didn’t know who would have gotten him: Louise or Zeke. Louise laughed in his face and told him to get out while Zeke threw things around in the kitchen, trying to vent his fury. Logan wanted to kick the little priss’ ass because he obviously had no idea that he was barking up the wrong tree, a confusing feeling that Logan refused to examine just then. 

The second thing upset him more than he cared to admit at the time. He had noticed out of the corner of his eye that a girl Louise’s age had been hanging around the back booth the whole time he had been there. She wasn’t eating, she was just lurking. Louise had gotten visibly rattled when she saw the girl and had avoided the table. Zeke had been the one to leave the kitchen and take the girl’s order while she leveled a creepy, heated stare at Louise the whole time. From where he sat at the counter, Logan could see Louise almost shaking. He didn’t like it, and he didn’t know how to make it stop. By closing time, the little gremlin still showed no signs of leaving, so he slid into the booth across from the girl and told her to get lost. 

She glared at him with crazy eyes and told him to mind his own business. Without realizing what he was saying, he replied that Louise  _ was  _ his business, and this girl could fuck off. Then she had the nerve to threaten him, to which he laughed, heartily, and told the girl that if she didn’t leave, he was calling the cops, and that his parents donated generously to the SBPD every year. And if she still didn’t take the hint and get away from Louise he would file a restraining order against her. And if she  _ still  _ didn’t get the hint...well...she had heard of the One Eyed Snakes, right? And how they had no problem threatening a kid that had bothered Louise? All he had to do was make a call, and no one would ever hear from her again.

He was bluffing, of course. But this little fucker didn’t know that. She actually looked concerned, at least, as concerned as a psychopath could look. But he wasn’t that worried. He was a fully fledged adult, and this was a kid who had no idea what she was dealing with. She pulled her hoodie over her Medusa-eque hair and made a beeline for the door. After hearing the bell jingle, Logan turned and looked at Louise, later told giving her a smug look, which seemed to upset her even more. She retreated to the kitchen, and he didn’t know what to do. He returned to the counter, but only waited about ten minutes before he started harassing her again. 

At her breaking point, Louise screamed and hurled a plate directly at him. He had to dive to the ground to avoid taking it in the face. After the plate shattered against the wall, there was silence. Right up until Zeke, the gentle giant, lost his shit. He yelled at Louise to go upstairs. Logan was shocked when she went without comment, but also without looking at him. After she left, Zeke came out from the kitchen with a broom and dustpan.

“Alright, asshole. You’re on cleanup crew.” He thrust the tools into Logan’s hands. Wanting to prove something, he wasn’t sure what, Logan silently cleaned up the broken plate, and wiped down the counters, tables, and booths for good measure along with sweeping the entirety of the floor. It only took about half an hour, and it felt kind of good to do some manual labor. Zeke didn’t talk to him the whole time, just whistled to himself as he handled shutting down the kitchen.

“Hey, kid,” Logan called when he was done cleaning, trying to figure out what else needed to be done.

“Zeke,” the kid replied.

“Zeke, yeah, um...what else needs to get done out here? I wiped down the counter, tables, booths, and swept the floor.”

“That’s about it. I cleaned the bathroom earlier.”

“Ok. What about the till?”

“The what?”

“The till. The money,” Logan replied with exasperation.

“Oh,” Zeke came out from the kitchen and scratched his chin, “Lou usually handles that.”

“Is she coming back down?”

“No,” Zeke said with finality and a glare.

“What if I promise not to say anything?”

Zeke still looked pissed. “No, she’s had a rough night. She doesn’t ever show it, but…”

“...she was scared,” Logan filled in. Zeke looked at him. “She was shaking because of that girl.”

“How do you know she wasn’t shakin’ cause of you?”

“No. I don’t scare Louise, not like that. I make her furious, made her cry once, but I’ve never done that.” He tightened his grip on the broom to get some frustration out. He really wanted to drop kick that little bitch for scaring Louise.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Zeke looked away, “Millie is...a problem. Lou’s gonna cut me for telling you this.”

“What kind of problem?”

“A stalking problem. An obsessive problem.”

Fuck. “Wonderful. Hopefully, I scared her off.”

Logan was surprised to see Zeke giving him the once over. “Yeah, maybe you did.”

“Well, we can’t leave the money in there. Not with that big ass window and no security. Do they have a safe?”

“Umm...I dunno.”

“You’re fucking useless,” was what Logan  _ wanted  _ to say, but he had gotten into enough trouble tonight, and this kid looked like he knew he way around a fist fight, so Logan chose to pick the battles he might possibly win. “How about this? Count out the money and take it upstairs.”

Zeke looked uncomfortable.

“What?” Logan snapped.

“I don’t wanna touch the money.”

Logan sighed. “Ok, I’ll count out the money, and I’ll write everything up all nice and math-like, and you can take it upstairs. They like you. This way, if there’s any problem, I’m the one who messed with it. And they  _ don’t  _ like me.”

Zeke chuckled and shared a smile with Logan. “Sure, that works.”

Counting down the till was a matter of minutes. He had a basic report ready to go before too long. He wouldn’t be able to calculate their profit since he didn’t know the starter amount, but at least they would have a clear outline of how much cash was in there. He had also figured out how to run the credit card machine report. He had the tray removed and everything bundled nicely as Zeke was giving the kitchen the final once over and shutting the lights off.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding, that does look nice,” Zeke commented when he saw the report.

“Good to know my overpriced education is worth something.”

“Whatcha study?”

“Accounting. I got my license this year. You?”

“Business management and botany.”

“Botany?” Logan raised an eyebrow. That was...unexpected.

“Yeah, I want to be able to grow herbs and veg and stuff for the restaurant.”

“You should get a plot at the community garden from my mom. I can hook you up if you want.” he offered, realizing that this kid was his only ally in relation to the Belchers.

“That would be awesome, thanks.”

“Would you be willing to do me a favor in return?” Logan pressed his advantage. Now the kid looked disappointed, which was sad. This wasn’t personal. It was just the price of doing business.

“What do you want?”

“Give me Louise’s phone number.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Ok, ok,” that had been a long shot anyway. But you never start with the best offer. “Will you give her my phone number, then?”

“Fine, but I can’t make her call you.”

“Can anyone make Louise do anything?” Logan suddenly felt like he was dealing with a noob, “here. And let her know that I’ll be back again for a delicious burger tomorrow.” Zeke glared at him, “and I promise not to harass her. Honest. I just want to eat somewhere that’s not home.”

The look on his face told Logan that Zeke knew exactly what he meant. “I’ll tell her, but I’d work on your dodging skills just in case.”

“Good idea,” with that, Logan bid Zeke good night and headed home.

He had kept his distance, to a point, from Louise for the next two years, even casually dating a girl here or there. But there was something about her that drew him, he couldn’t explain it. 

Slowly, ever so slowly, she would open up to him. Texting occasionally. Bantering back and forth when he came into the restaurant every couple of days. It got to the point where she would text him the burger of the day each morning so he could decide if he was going to stop by. He also wormed his way into the household with Zeke as an emissary. After about a year, Logan was handling the finances for the restaurant. Filing taxes and squirreling money away for Bob and Linda to retire on. He also started investing some of their profits. By the time Louise had graduated high school, she was looking at marketing classes at the local community college, figuring that was the last piece that they were missing.

“You don’t want to go away to college?” Logan asked one Saturday afternoon in April during Louise’s senior year of high school.

“Can’t work here if I go away to school.”

“And you just always want to work here?”

“Of course, this place is gonna be mine one day. Why wouldn’t I want to work here?”

“What about Tina and Gene?” Logan asked around bites of fries.

“Gene’s not cut out for this,” Louise said, shocking them both with her honesty, “and Tina’s going to defer to Zeke. He’s honestly my only competition.”

“They’re practically married already, maybe you can go in with him and it stays in the family for both of you; no hard feelings,” Logan remarked without thinking, only to stop when Louise’s stillness alerted him to the fact that she was staring at him.

“You give this a lot of thought?” She eyed him warily

“I am your bookkeeper; I think about what’s going to happen to the business,” he stood, having finished his meal and threw money on the counter, “speaking of, I’m getting myself into a new business.”

“Oh, yeah, what’s that?”

“I’m going to be Fishoeder’s accountant.”

“Well, shit. I’m here cooking burgers, you’re going to be cooking books,” she gave him one of her very rare smiles. And he treasured it, smiling back.

Their ferry “date” was in the beginning of August, about two weeks after her eighteenth birthday. Logan was supposed to be giving her a ride to the Wharf Arts Center where Gene was doing something, and they got into an argument in the car. It was so heated that Logan went into autopilot and randomly pulled over, not realizing he had driven on to the ferry. When they finally stopped screaming at each other, over whether or not Zeke and Louise really needed insurance on the food truck that they were taking around to festivals that summer, they both realized that they were trapped between cars headed out to Kingshead Island. All the other drivers had gotten out to enjoy the breeze coming off the water, but Logan and Louise stayed in the car. 

The two sat in his car, staring straight ahead.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” Louise said, after some silence.

“I’m not telling you what to do. But I’m allowed to have an opinion. You don’t have to take it under consideration,” Logan gripped the steering wheel.

“Why do you care so much anyway?” Louise turned her body fully to face him, “You’re not my boyfriend.”

“What if I was?” he asked quietly.

“What?” shock had pulled some of the wind out of her angry sails.

“If I was your boyfriend, would you care more about my opinion?” Now it was Logan’s turn to face her.

“Is that all you care about, that I do what you say?” Louise looked confused.

“No. But this feels like a ‘couple fight.’ Honestly, every time I fight with you recently feels like a ‘couple fight.’ And if we’re going to fight like a couple, we should f...be a couple in other ways, too.” He didn’t know how she would handle him being crude when she looked perched on a razor’s edge.

“Be a couple in other ways, how?”

He could not believe that she was actually engaging him in this conversation. 

“Go out on dates,” he began, slowly, like trying to coax a wild animal to take food from his hand. Be still; be quiet; be gentle. “Be affectionate.”

She didn’t seem to like that.

“Like, what? In front of people? Sick!”

“What about when we’re not in front of people? When we’re alone?”

Louise swallowed. “Like alone like we are now?”

“Yeah,” he answered, still not moving.

She leaned a little closer, “Like…” a little closer again until her lips were touching his. He tried to respond without throwing her off. Tried to be enthusiastic and encouraging without being aggressive. He just gently kissed her back, allowing her to control the depth, the pressure, the duration. He slowly opened his eyes when he felt her pull back.

She looked like a deer in headlights.

“Are you ok?” he asked, worried because she wasn’t moving or speaking. That appeared to be the opening she was looking for because she launched herself at him. What had been soft and slow turned into fierce and fiery. This time there was tongue and teeth, and fingers yanking his hair. He loved it. She had crawled into his lap in the driver’s seat and they didn’t come up for air until her ass accidentally honked the horn. The sudden noise startled them and they pulled apart.

“Holy shit,” Logan laid his head back against the headrest, fighting for air. “Louise, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I think so,” she pulled back from him a little more, careful this time not to sit on the horn. She looked confused. “Is it always like that?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, “like what?”

“Like…,” she couldn’t seem to decide on a word until, “...hungry?”

He tried to stay in the conversation and tamp down his ego and libido. “You’ve kissed people before. Didn’t you feel hungry then?”

“No,” she said, “I thought...I thought maybe I wasn’t that kind of person.”

He blinked at her in confusion, until he realized what she was saying.

“Oh,” he said lamely, scrambling for the right thing to say, “maybe you were just waiting for the right person.”

She rolled her eyes. “And that’s you?”

“Why not me?” now he was getting insulted. He had to force himself not to be shitty, “There’s always been something that’s drawn us together. Is it so crazy to think that those other boys or girls, those  _ children _ , didn’t do it for you?”

“Because I was what? Waiting for a  _ real man _ ?” her comment was drenched in sarcasm, but she had a point.

“Maybe you were just waiting for me, and for yourself, to be ready.”

“And you’ve been celibately waiting for me the past, what? Nine years?”

“I’ve dated other girls, yes. I  _ am  _ a lot older than you and I got to that milestone first. But everything with you is... _ more _ ...than with those other girls.”

“Really?” A whisper of feminine satisfaction crossed her face.

“Yeah,” he tried to give her ‘bedroom eyes,’ “I’m hungry, too.” He tried to give off the vibe that he wanted her to kiss him again. Honestly, if he thought he could get away with it, he would have just kissed  _ her _ . But he was pretty sure that would get him a smack...which wouldn’t necessarily be the  _ worst  _ thing...under different circumstances and in a different setting.

“So, if you were my boyfriend, I would have to listen to your dumbass opinions…”

“Listen to and consider, not obey,” he reinforced.

“...and spend time with you…”

“Which you’re doing pretty regularly already.”

“...and be  _ affectionate  _ with you…” she looked slightly nauseated at the word “affectionate.”

“Only in private and only with what you’re comfortable with,” then a thought occurred to him, “But Louise, I really like kissing you, and I’m going to want to do more. Do you think that’s something you might ever feel comfortable with?” She made a face.

“I know the physical affection stuff is difficult for you, and I have no problem taking it slow, but do you think you’d ever be ready for more than just kissing?” he clarified.

He had no idea how the Belcher family felt about sex, before marriage or otherwise. Bob and Linda seemed pretty tight and satisfied, but he didn’t know how much their children gleaned of that or how they had been brought up, really. His parents basically hated each other. They had separate bedrooms and he was pretty sure that his dad had a piece on the side. But Cynthia and Tom stayed together...because? Maybe for appearances, maybe for him, maybe because they had promised to. That didn’t mean they were happy. 

And he sure as hell didn’t want that kind of life, at any point.

Louise was looking at him strangely. “Comfortable with what?”

“With sex, Louise,” he had to spell this out for her? “I want to have sex with you.”

“Right now?”

“No, not in the car. But at some point, when we’re both into it. Do you think that’s something you’d be into?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because all we’ve done so far has been kiss and you already look like you’re gonna freak out.”

“You’ve seen me freak out; this isn’t ‘freak out.’”

“Right, it’s a different freak out than what I’m used to. That’s why I’m concerned.”

Louise regarded him thoughtfully. “I think, if just kissing you in the front seat of your stupid tiny car is making me hungry, I don’t think it’s gonna be long before I’ll want more.”

“Ok. Just tell me what you want, ok? What you like and what you don’t like.”

“Have I ever had a problem telling you what I don’t like, Logan Berry Bush?”

He smirked at her, “no. No, you have not.” This time he leaned forward and kissed her, and it was just as hot and heart-pounding as before. 

Getting his hands up her shirt was the work of a few days, her hands all over him a few more. It was becoming more and more apparent that she was just as enthusiastic as he was to find out what was underneath the other’s clothes. What  _ was  _ an issue was location. Sneaking around and making out in cars was cute in high school, but he was a grown man now, and he wanted to fuck his girlfriend in his own bed, at his own place, without the worry that his parents would suddenly come home and interrupt.

That was the only time Louise got tense with him, when she thought he was going to touch her and there were other people around. He was more than happy to give her space in front of others since they more than made up for it in private. 

He was twenty-four, had a really good job, and a nice sized nest egg. It was time to move out. He started looking through apartment listings casually, asking Louise what she thought of each only to be told that she wasn’t moving in with him. 

“You’re my girlfriend, I want to listen to and consider your opinion.” 

That remark had gotten a spatula thrown at him.

Around the same time, his parents announced that they were going to downsize and buy a place in Florida where they would spend the winters. He didn’t comment, since he was happy to get them out of his hair for six months of the year. They ended up selling his childhood home at the top of the market and using the money to buy a three bedroom condo in a new building where the taffy factory used to be and another at some retirement community in God’s Waiting Room. It was near the beach or something, but he really didn’t care. What he did care about, was the fact that they gifted him with a substantial amount of money after their real estate deals were complete.

Now he had a ton more possibilities. He had been hesitant to rent an apartment, as it reminded him about the worst parts of dorm life. With the influx of money from his parents, he could put a sizable downpayment on a house.

A house for him…

...and Louise.

He hadn’t mentioned anything like that to her, of course, since that would just make her nervous, but he couldn’t imagine letting her go. He wanted a family with her, a future.

He just hoped she wanted the same thing.

Before long, Louise actually found a fixer upper about two blocks from her thinking spot at the Cove. It was on a quiet street and had a nice yard and five bedrooms, one and a half baths. It even had a fireplace. It was off the main routes that traced the coast, and the cove wasn’t really used by the tourists so it wouldn’t be too crazy in the summer.

“I mean, you’re gonna have to do  _ a lot _ of work to it,” She said when she brought it up, “but it’s for super cheap, considering the other places you’ve been looking at.”

“How did you find out about it?” he asked, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could have two hands to try to wade through the mountain of unfiled papers on Mr. Fischoeder’s desk.

“I popped into the open house while I was walking back from the Cove. There were a ton of people there, though.”

“Shit, that’s gonna drive the price up.”

“Not necessarily.” He could practically hear the smile in her voice.

“Why not?”

“You have an in with the owner.”

As with most things in Seymour’s Bay, the owner was Mr. Fischoeder, who was already very impressed with his new accountant and liked the hard hitting questions Louise had asked him when he saw her at the open house. He was willing to part with it cheap, so long as Logan bought it “as is.”

Logan was sold on the house when Louise took him over to see it. He had gotten the keys from Fischoeder and took his girl to the house one evening after work. She marched through the house like she already owned it, gently skirting the damaged areas of the floor and the holes in the walls. It was when they were upstairs in the smallest bedroom that he knew. This was  _ their  _ house. This was their nursery.

He made an offer and the papers were signed in a manner of days.

“Fixer upper” was being generous, though. 

He hired Teddy to be the project manager and get the house liveable as soon as he and his crew could. Electrical and plumbing were finished by Halloween. New roof and siding by Thanksgiving. Drywall and flooring by Christmas. Interior paint was done by MLK Day. He was in with furniture by the beginning of February.

Conveniently, he was able to act as condo-sitter for his parents during their first winter in Florida while the work was being done. He and Louise made excellent use of the guest bedroom while the Bushes were gone.

But the most important holiday for Logan was Valentine’s Day, because he finally had a place of his own and Louise in his bed. 

She still maintained that she wasn’t moving in with him, and made a lame effort to sleep at the Belcher apartment above the restaurant more often than not. But his nights without her were rarer and rarer as winter melted into spring. He liked the routine they had developed, where he made breakfast for them in the morning as she got ready for class. In order to make sure she could do school and still work at the restaurant, she had been forced to sign up for all morning classes. Logan would drop her off on his way to Fischoeder, as finding parking on campus was impossible. Zeke, Bob, or Linda would collect her in time to prep for the lunch rush.

Everything was going along smoothly until the end of April, when Louise started throwing up...constantly.

“How can you have a stomach bug?” Logan asked as he held her hair back as she threw up again. “None of the rest of us are sick.”

“Maybe it’s food poisoning,” she muttered between heaves, “been putting arsenic in my food again?”

“Please, as if I would use a poison.” She smiled at him before throwing up again. “Besides,” Logan continued, “You actually have to eat something to get food poisoning. And you haven’t managed to do that.”

“It’s probably just stress. The end of the semester is coming.”

“You weren’t like this last semester.”

“Yeah, well, it was my first time and I was dumb. Plus, we’re almost to tourist season, things are getting busier.”

Things went on like that for another three weeks until Louise passed out at the restaurant and was rushed to the hospital.

Logan practically broke the sound barrier as he drove to the hospital after Zeke called him.

When he found her in one of the curtain areas in the ER, tethered to a bag of fluids, her face was gray and she looked exhausted.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered when he saw her, wanting to hug her but knowing that she would be upset with the display in front of all the ER staff and other patients. She lifted haunted eyes to his.

“It’s not just stress,” she said, swallowing down tears, something he had only ever seen her do once before. He came to sit on the bed, worry consuming him.

“I’m pregnant,” she answered before he could question.

_ Thank God _ , was all he could think in that moment. He was worried it was something serious like cancer, or worse, something the doctors couldn’t even figure out. As far as he was concerned, a baby was the best possible scenario.

“Ok.”

She looked up at him, “that’s all you have to say, ‘ok?’”

“Yes.”

“Fuck you!”

“I hope you will, again and again and again.”

Now she looked ready to slit his throat. “How can you say that?”

“Because I love you,” he took a chance and squeezed her hand, “and I love having sex with you.”

Now she looked more confused than enraged.

“This doesn’t concern you at all?”

“I’m concerned about your health and safety. But I’m an adult with a stable job, a reliable car, my own home, conservative investments, and a girlfriend I love. I can take care of you, take care of  _ us _ , our family. This is not a scary proposition for me.”

She blinked at him.

“So you want me to keep it?”

“I want  _ us  _ to keep the baby and have a family, yes.”

“And if I don’t?”

He took a breath and sat back. He had to be silent for a few minutes and not lash out, repeating the lessons he had learned with Dr. Bouchard during his therapy while away at college. He really didn’t want to fight with her and he knew that if he didn’t pick his words carefully, that’s exactly what would happen. And she was so raw she would say things she would regret later. He had to remain calm.

“Louise, you have all the rights here. It’s your body. If you decide that you want to have an abortion, I don’t think I can prevent it. If you want to give the baby up for adoption, I don’t think I can prevent it. I will still love you if you do either of those things. But, I have to be honest with you, I will be very hurt if you do. It will take me a long time, and probably some serious counseling, to get over it. I’m not saying these things to try to force you into a decision. I’m saying them because they’re true and I want you to have all the information before you make a decision. 

“But if I’m being completely honest, I bought the house that you suggested with the plan that this would happen one day. That we’d be filling it with our children. I didn’t say anything at the time because I didn't want to freak you out, but that was the plan. Is this a little sooner than I expected? Yes. But it’s not the end of the world for me.”

She didn’t look quite as angry as he expected. But she was very, very quiet.

“What about school? What am I going to do with a baby when I have class?”

“You can still go to school. My mom lives locally six months out of the year and she has nothing to do with her time; I’m sure she’d love to babysit. I also work for an eccentric millionaire who lets me set my own schedule most of the time. I’m sure I can work something out with him so that I can take care of the baby while you have class or need to be at the restaurant.”

She wasn’t really arguing, which he took to be a good sign. After the nurse came in to remove the IV and give her the discharge papers, Louise put her hand in his and squeezed. 

“Let’s go home,” she said quietly.

After getting to his house, Louise went to bed and slept for almost twenty-four hours. She was awake and waiting for him when he returned home the next day.

“What if I’m bad at it?” she asked as soon as he came through the door.

“Bad at what?”

“At being a mom. I’m not very maternal. I don’t really like kids. And I’m nothing like Linda.”

“Is not being like Linda a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I’m serious!”

“So am I. Louise, you’re the first one to say that your relationship with your mom is strained. Does that automatically make her a bad mom? I don’t think so. I know she loves you, everyone knows that, even if she doesn’t understand you.”

“But what if I can’t love it?”

“You can’t?” This line of questioning was weird.

“What if I am unable to love this child?”

“Why do you think that’s a thing that’s going to happen?”

“Because I’m not an easy person, Logan! Human emotions aren’t exactly my strong suit.” He would have laughed if he wasn’t sure that could get him injured.

“Louise, do you love me?”

“What?”

“It’s a simple question: do you love me?” he moved forward to put his stuff down and give her some time to think.

“Yes.”

“Well, if you can love me, the biggest pain in your ass ever, I think we’ll be ok with whatever this baby throws at us.”

She looked him with a face that was half smile, half cry.

“But,” he continued, “if you’re really worried, I think you should talk to someone.”

“I  _ am  _ talking to someone.”

“I mean a professional. I’m just one bumbling idiot. And I failed psych, twice.”

“A shrink?  _ Really _ ?”

“A  _ counselor _ , and yes. You can choose which one you like best.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“If you decide that you want to keep the baby or give it up for adoption, you need to see a doctor for vitamins and stuff. Maybe they can recommend someone.”

“Will you go with me?”

Logan smiled at her, “Four Ears, I’ll go wherever you want.”

TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL

Logan rolled over and snuggled up to Louise. Typically, she wasn’t a snuggler, but if he tired her out enough, he could usually cuddle up. He had a good feeling about this morning. It wasn’t often that they had the whole place to themselves and they could really cut loose, so they tried to make the best of it when they did.

All too soon, she started to wiggle, and he knew cuddle time was at an end. He backed away slightly and tried to look innocent.

“Jesus, why is your body such a fucking furnace?”

“Because I’m always so hot for you, bunny girl.”

“Oh, don’t start with that.”

“I can’t help myself. I have you all to myself for another…” he rolled to check the alarm clock, “Three hours. I need to get all the attention I can.”

“Spoiled, possessive only child,” her repeated classification of him had the sting sucked out as she smiled sleepily at him.

“Why do you think I was so adamant that we have more than one?” he gently rolled her onto her back and caged her between his arms, holding himself over her.

His remark caused her to pause.

“What?” he asked, hoping that he hadn’t accidentally killed the mood.

“What did you mean Monday when you told Peyton that you hadn’t decided if you were giving him another sibling yet?” she didn’t look thrilled with him at the moment.

“I didn’t want him hitting me in the groin, and I couldn’t exactly tell a seven year old that I need my dick to fuck his mother. I’m not ready to have that conversation with any of them.”

“Because I think that’s a decision that we should make together.”

Logan blinked at her and then lowered himself down to lean on one arm. “Is there room for discussion about this decision?” This was surprising information.

Louise looked up at the ceiling. “I...I don’t know.”

“Then we haven’t made a decision yet.” Before he could stop himself, he rested a hand on her abdomen.

“Do you really want to do this again?” she asked him.

“I get all the easy parts; I’ll take all the kids you’re willing to give me,” he smiled at her, “do  _ you  _ really want to do this again?”

“I don’t know. Tina being pregnant; I’m worried it’s going to make me broody.”

“You’ve never been an aunt before. Maybe helping her with her baby will satisfy the broodiness,” he took a breath, “and if not, you’re only twenty-six, we have plenty of time to decide if we want to have another one.”

“But wasn’t part of the whole decision to keep Peyton the great idea that we’d still be young when he was old enough to go off on his own? That we could have a midlife that was free of kids while our peers were dealing with teenagers? If you keep pumping babies into me, that day is never going to come.”

Logan laid on his back. “You make a good point. You’ll only be thirty-seven when Peyton graduates high school. And then forty-three when it’s Juniper’s turn. That’s still really young.”

“And you’ll be an ancient forty-nine,” she smirked, “maybe by then I should trade you in for a younger model.”

Logan huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Oh, come on, Logan, I’m just kidding.”

“Don’t joke about that.”

“Ok, ok, fine. I’m sorry.” Logan got super,  _ super  _ touchy on the rare occasions when Louise would joke about leaving him or divorcing him. She had asked him about it numerous times and all he would say was that it was too awful to joke about, which confused her. They joked about awful stuff all the time; it was kind of the foundation of their relationship. To make up for it, she crawled on top of him, “Are you going to pout, or are you going to kiss me?” She leaned forward, keeping her lips a hair’s breadth away from his, and waited him out. She had much more patience than he did.

Sure enough, he surged upwards and captured her mouth. They made out like teenagers before moving on to more aggressive acrobatics. It would be nice to still be agile enough for things like this once all the kids were out...at least to college.

She didn’t know if any of her three would be interested in taking over the restaurant, but she would try to encourage them to live outside of Seymour’s Bay, at least for a while. That wouldn’t have worked out for her, teen pregnancy aside. Louise wouldn’t have felt comfortable enough with the concept of having to meet new people and make new friends to stand something like dorming at college. For Logan and Tina, it was a necessary new page in their lives. For her, and Zeke, too, to some extent, it would have been a nightmare. She had everything she wanted and needed right here, but she would try to encourage her children to explore a little further, if only to be out of her hair for a while.

She could and would love them just as much exploring the world as she did having them underfoot.


	4. Thursday: The Seoul of the city burger (Dumpling burger with kimchi and a sunny side up egg) And an Ocean Ave (our take on a boulevardier)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer to the grand reopening. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I have not worked at a food establishment in a very long time, and when I did (a pizzeria in high school), it was very boring.
> 
> That having been said, at my most recent place of work, ALL BUT ONE of the incidents occurred. I'll let you which ones happened in the end notes. 
> 
> A note on the burger and cocktail: I thought the burger was pretty good; the cocktail was very heavy and I don't think I'm a fan of Negroni.

#  Thursday: 

#  The Seoul of the city burger (Dumpling burger with kimchi and a sunny side up egg) And an _Ocean Ave_ (our take on a _boulevardier_ )

Everything would be fine once Saturday arrived. It was getting to Saturday without her murdering someone that would be the miracle.

As with most events, Murphy’s Law showed up early and with bells on. There had been some minor to middle-grade catastrophe each day so far. Louise tried to assign them all the same score on the “oh shit” scale to keep her sanity, but she was starting to think that was foolish.

On Monday, an entire shipment had arrived of branded material that called the new place “Beak Burgers.” When she had called the company to demand they fix the situation, sooner than ASAP, the idiot customer service rep told her they thought it was a place that specialized in chicken and turkey burgers. Zeke had nothing to say about that, but Bob ranted at the moron for thirty minutes that turkey burgers were  _ not  _ burgers. To get him to shut up, the rep promised to get a new order to them by Wednesday, and sure enough it had arrived, correct and on time.

On Tuesday, they had the HVAC people come in and clean out the exhaust vent over the grill to make sure that it was sparkling clean for the big event. The shitheads had proceeded to close the flue at the top of the vent, leave, and never mention that they had done it. Zeke and Louise realized something was wrong when the restaurant started to flood with smoke as Bob began cooking the first of the lunch burgers. The only way they could fix it was for them to hose Zeke down with the coldest water they could get and have him climb up on the grill. He was able to get the flue open and eventually the smoke cleared, but it was three showers before Zeke’s hair stopped smelling like barbecue and only a near miss that stopped him from landing hands first onto the hot grill.

Yesterday, people had shown up looking for the new restaurant, only to be upset and confused that it was still the former incarnation. When Louise asked them about the misunderstanding over the date, the customers showed her the add in the paper, which had the wrong fucking date printed for the reopening. They were the only ones who showed. Louise hoped that was because everyone else had just read “Memorial Day Weekend,” rather than the specific dates printed lower and in smaller font. 

She was paranoid trying to think of what could happen today. She ran her wedding band and engagement rings along the chain that hung around her neck, a nervous habit she had picked up during her pregnancy with Peyton. The rhythmic slide settled her, but it wouldn’t last forever. While trying to figure out if it was worth it to buy extra food and store it somewhere else, assuming that the fridge would go next, her daily catastrophe presented itself in her father, who reeked of skunk and had just walked in from depositing trash in the dumpster in the alley.

“No, No! You need to get the hell out of here! Why the hell do you smell like skunk?!?!” Louise yelled before Bob got too far into the kitchen. Thankfully, the lunch rush was over, and it was just her, Zeke, Linda, and Bob in the restaurant. 

“I got sprayed as I was coming back in. There’s a baby skunk outside the back door spraying like no tomorrow.”

“Oh, Bobby,” Linda cried, attempting to go over to him before she started to retch, “Oh my God, that’s so much worse then when I was sprayed on my birthday!”

“Shit, get upstairs and take your stink with you!” By this point, Zeke had gone over to the door to investigate. Sure enough, the poor creature was immediately outside the back door. It was in very bad shape. It would struggle to its feet, stagger a few steps, and then collapse again, spraying all the while.

“Poor thing,” Zeke said from the safety of the doorway, but the smell was starting to make it into the restaurant.

“Oh, my God!” Linda yelled as she looked over Zeke’s shoulder, “that’s Princess Pew!”

“What?” asked Zeke.

“Princess Pew! She’s Little King Trash Mouth II’s adopted daughter! He’s been taking care of her for awhile now. Oh, poor baby!”

Great, thought Louise, now I’ve got a possibly rabid skunk and a hysterical Linda to deal with. Light glinting in from the outside alerted her to a new catastrophe.

The Health Inspector truck had just shown up.

“Shit!” Louise yelled, “Hugo and Ron are here. Zeke, see if you can figure out something to do with the skunk. Mom, you need to go upstairs and help Dad, make sure he’s keeping his stink up there. I’ll deal with these two.”

Everyone scattered to their respective jobs just in time for Hugo to shove the door open. 

“Hey guys,” Louise said as pleasantly as possible, “here for the inspection before the big day?”

“Hi, Louise,” Ron was always the nicer of the two, “all set for this weekend?”

“I hope so. We feel ready.” They shared a smile while Louise kept keen eyes on Hugo, who hadn’t said a word and was busy poking his nose everywhere. He had mellowed slightly over the years as Zeke and Louise started taking on more responsibilities in the restaurant. But he seemed more agitated as they got closer to the relaunch. Maybe Hugo was happy when Bob met with mediocre success, but didn’t like the idea that the restaurant would be a smash under Zeke and Louise? Who knew with him?

“Everything look good, Hugo?” Louise asked, since he was being mousier than usual. His only response was grumbles. Louise and Ron reluctantly followed him as he made his way through the kitchen and towards the back door. 

Louise got more nervous the closer they got to the door. She took deep breaths, trying to see if she could catch a whiff of skunk. She didn’t think so, but that might just be wishful thinking.

“AHA!” Hugo cried as they got near the back door.

Oh, no, Louise thought, but he didn’t throw the door open. Instead, he was pointing emphatically, at the door jamb. 

“There’s a huge bug right there!” Hugo pulled out his notebook and primed his pen.

“What?” Louise asked in shock. Pest control had just been there the previous week.

“A huge bug, right there near the kitchen!”

Peering around his shoulder, Louise nearly doubled over in laughter. 

“Hugo,” she chuckled, bent to pick up the offending item, “this is made out of rubber. One of my kids must have dropped it when they were here the other night. Peyton and Nicki have a whole collection of giant bugs. They just lost this one,” she tossed the rubber bug onto Hugo’s notebook. He flinched and tossed it back on the ground. 

“I don’t believe you,” he sneered at her.

“Then pick it up and see for yourself,” Louise eyed him down. They couldn’t afford any delays for the opening.

“I will not!” But it was too late, Ron had already dropped down and picked up the oversized ant. 

“She’s right; it’s rubber,” he concluded, with the same serenity he also had, a perfect contrast to Hugo.

“Ugh, fine.” Defeated, Hugo flipped his notebook closed and sullenly crossed his arms over his chest.

“Will we see you both this weekend?” Louise asked, pouring a little salt on the wound.

“I’ll be here,” Ron stated with finality.

“Hugo?” Louise turned to the smaller man, who was still frowning. “I’ve got some turkey burgers downstairs just for you.” Now she used some honey instead of salt. She had learned at some point over the years that Hugo had an aversion to beef, stemming from an unfortunate incident while he was in 4H in his youth. The fact that Bob refused to make anything but beef had added to the thorns in Hugo’s side. Louise had no such definitive opinions about meats, so she kept other patties around. She had once or twice been able to get Hugo to eat one of the turkey burgers, but it had been while Bob and Linda had been on a much deserved vacation.

Hugo sighed, “ok, if I’m not busy, I might come by.”

“Sounds good. Anything else I can help you gentlemen with today?”

“No, I think we’re good,” Ron replied, since Hugo, although mollified, was trying to save face. He just stomped out of the restaurant.   
“Ok, thanks for coming by then. Good to know that we’re all set for the big day.”

“Good luck this weekend, Louise,” said Ron as he made his way through the door.

“Ron! Let’s go!” Hugo shouted from the truck.

“Thanks, Ron,” Louise said, “take it easy.”

Once the truck was safely pulled away from the curb, Louise ran for the back door. She threw it open to find Zeke standing near the skunk, arms crossed over his chest, and a frazzled look on his face. Two of Seymour’s Bay’s finest were swatting each other with sticks.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked from the doorway.

Zeke sighed before answering, “I called the cops since I don't know the number for animal control. They sent over these two idiots. We’re waiting for their sergeant.”

“Why?”

At this point, one of the cops noticed her. “Oh, hey, ma’am, we’re waiting for our C.O. to come and deal with the situation.”

“You need a supervisor to deal with a baby skunk?”

“Um..yeah?”

“Where’s animal control?”

“We downsized a couple years ago, so we’re trying to get ahold of the county guy. But we haven’t yet.”

“How long is all this going to take? We’re going to have people arriving soon for the dinner rush.”

“It takes as long as it takes,” said the other cop, who appeared irritated that his partner wasn’t dueling with him anymore.

Any further conversation was halted when a sedan pulled into the alley. Surprisingly, it was Sergeant Bosco who got out of the car.

“Bosco? You haven’t retired yet?” Louise said before she could stop herself.

“End of the year,” he threw shade at Louise, “Alright, rookies, what have we got here?”

“The skunk was run over by a car and now it’s just spraying everything,” one of the uniformed idiots reported.

“If it had been run over, it’d be dead,” muttered Zeke, “look at the size of this thing. I’ve got boots that are bigger.”

“Ok, so what do you propose we do?” Bosco asked the two uniforms.

“We should put it out of its misery.”

No one really argued that point, since the pathetic little thing was obviously suffering. Every so often, it would turn pleading eyes to Zeke. Louis could tell it was breaking his heart. Based on its size and the fact that they found it out here by the dumpsters, Louise deduced that the juvenile skunk had gotten into the rat bait and the poison was slowly killing it. Run over by a car. She was glad to see her tax dollars going to such good use in hiring such astute detectives. 

What was currently being argued was how they should put the animal out of its misery.

“Can’t you just pick it up with a shovel, put it in your trunk, and drop it in the woods, somewhere?” Bosco asked Zeke.

“I am absolutely not putting a wild animal, which smells to hell and back, in my car,” Zeke argued back.

“Well, then we’re only got one alternative; we’re going to have to shoot it,” Bosco decided.

“What the fuck?” Louise said in shock.

“Don’t worry ma’am,” Bosco assured her, “I’m an excellent marksman. You should go inside, though. The bullet could ricochet anywhere.”

“Ok.” That made sense. She noticed that Zeke wasn’t moving. “Are you coming?”

“Nope. I’m gonna stand here and make sure that they do this properly,” Zeke muttered to her while glaring at the two rookies and Sergeant Bosco. She watched as Bosco drove the car slowly to get closer to the skunk, open the door, lower the window, and point his weapon through the open window at the skunk, who kept looking up at Zeke with a pleading expression.

“Aren’t you going to tell him to go inside?” Louise asked, knowing that even with the cops demanding it, getting Zeke to leave the poor animal was going to be a tall order.

“Oh, he’ll be fine,” Bosco assured her, leaning down to aim through the car window.

“Of course, I forgot that he has an invisible shell of testosterone protecting him from bullets.” Without further argument, she went back inside, slamming the back door to the restaurant behind her. 

She heard a pop and then waited, only for the silence to be broken by the sound of Linda throwing the kitchen window open in the apartment down below and yelling at the cops.

“What the hell are you doing out there?” she bellowed, voice getting more hysterical with each word.

“Everything’s fine, ma’am,” one of the idiot rookies called up, “go back inside and shut the window.”

“Shut the window?!?! What are you doing?”

“Just shooting a skunk, ma’am. We’ll be done soon.”

“Oh, Little Princess Pew! Oh, the poor baby!”

“Go back inside, Lin,” Louise heard Zeke call up, “he’s got to do it again.”

“Again?!?! Why?!?!”

“Because he missed the first time!” 

Louise burst out laughing. Bosco missing the skunk on the first try was bad enough, hearing Zeke’s tone as he told her mother made it all that more entertaining. He sounded like he was about thirty seconds away from hulking out and physically throwing the cop cars out of the alley.

“I’ll get him this time,” Bosco yelled, a clear lack of patience in his voice.

“You had better!” was all Linda said and then Louise heard the window slam closed. 

Soon enough, there was another pop, and then more silence. She waited five whole minutes before going back to the alley door. When she opened it, she saw Zeke still standing there, arms crossed over his chest, fuming. The rookies were gone, and Bosco was talking to another man who was wearing ratty clothes and had pulled a battered pick up truck into the alley. 

“Who’s that guy?” Louise asked, pointing to the new arrival, who had a black garbage bag dangling from his hand.

“Animal Control,” Zeke replied, sounding even more furious, “he got here right after the second shot. Apparently, he would have just scooped the little critter up and brought her out to the woods to let nature take its course.” Both TIna and Zeke were animal lovers, so Louise could tell that this was bothering her brother-in-law.

“At least it was quick this way and she didn’t suffer,” Louise tried to console him. “He missed the first time?”

“Yeah,” this brought a chuckle out of Zeke, “dumbass.” They slowly made their way back inside just in time to greet some customers who had arrived for an early dinner. 

_ Please, please, please let this be the craziest thing that happens between now and the opening _ Louise thought, running her rings along her necklace again, after having put in the customers’ order. 

The rhythmic sound soothed her, but if things kept up like this, she was going to need a much bigger necklace to get to Saturday.

TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL

After Logan laying out all the reasons why they would be able to support a child and seeing a counselor named Dr. Schaal on a regular basis, Louise made the decision that she wanted to keep the baby and raise it with Logan. She took her counselor’s warnings to heart: that this would be an incredibly stressful and intense experience, not everyone would be supportive, and she might have negative feelings toward herself, the baby, and Logan. But at the end of the day, when Logan talked about the fact that he had bought the house with the idea that they would be raising their kids in it one day, she privately admitted to herself that she had thought the same thing.

Logan’s name might be on the mortgage, but that was  _ her  _ house.

All that behind them, she didn’t think that they would be making any other big decisions until after the baby was born. 

Explaining the impending birth to her parents was hard. Her mother was thrilled, but her dad...he looked disappointed. That hurt, and Louise had been avoiding him since. That avoidance made moving full time into the house with Logan easier. Everything else went pretty much the same. Logan made breakfast for them in the morning, then he dropped her off at campus. Zeke or Linda picked her up in time to prep for the lunch rush, she worked the rush, and then walked home to the house by the cove. Everything was working out fine. Louise had to admit, though, that she much preferred Zeke collecting her from school rather than Linda. Linda wanted to natter on about babies, which set Louise’s teeth on edge. Zeke was quiet. He would ask her how she was feeling and if her classes went well, and then they would spend the rest of the ride in silence. It was a nice way to mentally prepare for seeing, but not speaking to, her dad.

Logan had gone out for drinks with a couple of his buddies one night after work, so Louise had time to herself at the house. It worked out well because she had decided on a surprise for him and she needed him away from the house to do it. While he was gone, she and Zeke had done some gardening in the front of the house along the edge of the wrap around porch. That’s where he found her when he came home, sitting on the steps, barefoot, with a glass of lemonade in her hands, just enjoying the quiet and the sunset.

“Hey,” he smiled happily when he saw her.

“Hey,” she returned his smile quietly and took a sip of her drink.

“Looks like you were busy.”

“Yeah, Zeke and I did some gardening.”

“I can see that. What did you plant?”

Louise smirked up at him, “loganberry bushes.”

Logan went still, staring at her in a weird way.

“What? It was mostly a joke,” she said, starting to get nervous.

“Wait...wait here,” he told her before tearing ass into the house. 

Her eyes followed him with a raised eyebrow. He could be so weird sometimes. Before she could call after him, he was back, squatting down in front of her on a lower step and pulling something out of his pocket.

“What are you…” he actually had the nerve to put a finger on her lips to quiet her.

“I, uh, I bought this a couple weeks ago….when you decided you wanted to raise the baby with me. I was trying to figure out when to ask you,” he thrust a small, black velvet box up towards her face. Louise froze.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, starting to get nervous.

“Open it,” he said, putting it in her hands. With shaking fingers, she pried the box open, and sure enough, there was a diamond ring inside. She didn’t know anything about rings (or jewelry at all, for that matter), so she didn’t really know what she was looking at. The main stone was a circle and the silver bands twisted up around it, almost making a heart shape when it was looked at from the side. The bands had a bunch of little stones in it, so the whole thing twinkled beautifully in the fading light. She looked up at him in shock. Her hand started to itch.

“Bunny Girl,” he began, “I love you. You’re going to have my baby. Will you marry me?”

Louise tried to steady her breathing, but it was a lost cause. Before she could stop herself, her right hand let loose and she slapped Logan hard across the face. He turned his head back to look at her, mouth dropped open.

“Yes,” she said, trying to get back under control, “yes, Logan, I’ll marry you.”

He surged forward and kissed her, pinning her against the stairs. He only pulled back slightly to be able to slide the ring on her finger so that they didn’t lose it, before throwing himself at her again. After a few moments of kissing, he scooped her up and carried her into the house. They both nearly got concussions as he was distracted and could hardly get up the stairs and crashed into the door and the wall once they were in the house. Deciding that trying to get up the stairs to their bedroom would most likely kill them both, he made a hard left into the living room and threw her on the couch.

“Jesus!” Louise cried as she bounced on the cushion, “take it easy.”

“I can’t,” then he stopped to look at her, “do you really want me to?”

She blinked up at him. 

“No,” she said after a beat, which resulted in him throwing himself onto her on the couch. “Just, be careful.”

“I will,” he muttered, somehow getting his shirt tangled with hers as he tried to get them off at the same time, “I will.”

They weren’t on the couch for long since their enthusiasm tipped them over the edge and they ended up on the floor. Miraculously, they escaped injury, but decided not to tempt fate, and just curled up with some blankets and cushions on the floor of the living room when they were done. Louise, for once, snuggled up to him.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” she said, after they had caught their breath.

“We’ve had sex on the couch before.”

“No, moron, the ring, asking me to marry you, the whole traditional thing.”

“Oh, well, I didn’t expect to get slapped in the face, so let’s call it even.”

“Sorry about that,” Louise said quietly.

“Don’t be,” did Logan actually sound smug? “I liked it.”

“You’re so weird,” she smiled up at him.

“I am, and now you’re stuck with me.”

“Yeah, well, we’re not married yet.”

This had apparently been the wrong thing to say, as Logan pushed for them to be married as soon as possible. They compromised on the beginning of August, the anniversary of when they started dating, as the date for the wedding. It was small, with the ceremony on the beach and the reception at the restaurant. It was really only family and friends that were close as family. Mort, who it turned out was licensed to conduct all manner of official ceremonies thanks to the internet, was the celebrant. The whole thing was supposed to be quiet and casual. Logan wore a white button down with khakis and no shoes. Louise, also barefoot, wore a sundress and carried a bouquet of herbs and fruit flowers. She was utterly shocked, however, when her dad insisted on walking her down the aisle.

“I didn’t even think you were going to come,” Louise had said when he brought it up one quiet afternoon at the restaurant.

“Of course I’m going to be there,” Bob sighed, “Louise, I’m not mad at you. I’m...I was worried about you. Your mom and I have always struggled. I didn’t want that life for you. And with Logan, the kid that bullied you when you were in school? What the hell kind of life would you have?”

“Please don’t be there if you’re going to be upset the whole time,” Louise replied, grinding her teeth to keep the tears from forming in her eyes.

“But I’m not. Your mom suggested I actually open my eyes and see what was happening. You made the decision to keep the baby after thinking about it and seeing a therapist, it wasn’t some emotionally driven, spur of the moment thing. And Logan has a good job and can support you. Hell, he owns a house! And he’s 25 years old! But more than that, he always emotionally supports you. Zeke told me that he scared off Millie. He makes sure you go to school. He’s been super helpful around here. Your mother and I have money in the bank for the first time ever and that’s partially thanks to him. He gets along with everyone. He’s a much better kid than he was ten years ago. And most important, he loves you. And I can see that you love him. I just...I thought I’d have more time with you before I had to give you up.”

No amount of teeth grinding could stop the tears now.

“I’m not running away to join the circus,” she said.

“No, but you’re an adult now, not my little chick. I wasn’t ready for you to grow up.”

“I’ll always be your chick, Hawk.” And for the first time in a long time, they hugged, and things were better. Bob and Louise made a point of spending time together. Bob made a point of spending time with the boy who was going to be his son-in-law. By the time the day of the wedding rolled around, Bob had nothing but smiles for his youngest and her husband.

For the ceremony’s purposes, Louise wore her engagement ring on her right hand and Logan slid a complimentary band to his on her left ring finger. But, understanding that she needed her hands free for work, he had gotten her a chain so that she could wear both around her neck. They would be out of the way while working at the restaurant.

The day was simple, and perfect, and getting back to the house that night, the newlyweds breathed a sigh of relief that there was one more task accomplished, one less thing to do, and nothing standing between them and the due date in December.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, the very end of this chapter with Louise and Bob always makes me a bit teary-eyed.
> 
> In other news, prior to COVID-19, I worked at a museum. The following are events that ACTUALLY happened either right before or during public hours or programming:
> 
> Tuesday's Event of the closed flue happened, over the fireplace that we used for open hearth cooking classes...and we discovered this AFTER the class had started. My coworker played Zeke's role of getting soaked and then climbing into the fire to open the vent.
> 
> Wednesday's Event of the incorrect date happened for one of our major programs, although thankfully not many people read the fine print.
> 
> Thursday's Events of both the health inspectors showing up AND the rabid skunk are both 100% true, but they did not happen at the same time. Fortunately for Louise, Hugo and Ron didn't actually shut them down. Unfortunately for my museum, our food based programming was cancelled thanks to the Board of Health. 
> 
> The poor baby skunk...Holy Crap. This DID happen, and to this day, people still stare at me slack-jawed when I tell them the story. Never a dull moment in the museum world.
> 
> Monday's Event of incorrectly branded materials did NOT happen, although, I did have a boss once who was given business cards that listed him as "Historic Prevention Specialist" instead of "Historic Preservation Specialist." We all got a good kick out of that.


	5. Friday: I'm Henry the 8th, I Am Burger (roast burger served on a Yorkshire pudding bun with gravy and mushy peas) and a Queen Bloody Mary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With fewer than 24 hours to go, tensions are high.

She could tell that Logan was grinding his teeth, although he was making a good show of pretending to ignore everything else and focus on his work. She looked at him through the cutout between the counter and the kitchen. Logan was prepping his baking station while Bob prepped the ingredients in the fridge for Saturday’s burger of the day. Opening was here, and tensions were running high. Zeke was spending his time either collecting all the ingredients at the bar or running interference, making sure that Gene and Courtney...and  _ Alex _ , couldn’t make it into the kitchen.

Louise had never seen Logan actually physically harm someone; she didn’t want tonight to be the night.

Tina was at the booths keeping Peyton, Nicky, and Juniper busy with a craft for tomorrow, which successfully kept her both relaxed and out from under Linda’s watchful eye. Her secret remained intact. Not that they needed to worry too hard, Louise huffed to herself. It wasn’t difficult to see that Gene was Linda’s favorite child. His presence took up all of their mother’s attention. Louise thanked her lucky stars again that that was the case. A distracted Linda was a Linda that was out of Louise’s hair, a huge success the night before one of the biggest days of their collective lives.

Louise slid her eyes to her husband again, deciding to take him a water and see if she could mitigate some of whatever damage might be in store.

About two years ago, Logan and Bob had run across “The Great British Bake Off” courtesy of Netflix. While Bob only had passing artistic interest in the show (he wasn’t a baker, but could appreciate their work), Logan had been inspired, primarily by the bread episodes. While Louise gestated Juniper, she feasted on the ryes, sourdoughs, and stuffed breads that Logan had become obsessed with. She also appreciated how strong kneading made his hands; her back and feet (and other parts) benefitted from his new hobby immensely. 

At the time, Zeke and Louise had been slowly steering Bob toward the rebrand, and Zeke saw another opportunity in his brother-in-law’s talent. Before too long, Logan was the master bread baker of specialty buns for the burgers of the day. It had started as a special weekly feature, to see if he could handle being a husband, dad, accountant, and baker. Working with the dough knocked all his stress out, so he started making their buns a more regular thing. Now he handled all the specialty burgers’ bread components, and was hard at work, covered in flour, prepping for what they hoped would be a busy weekend.

Louise slipped past Zeke, who gave her a silent bouncer’s nod as she walked into the kitchen, each doing their best to not attract attention. Seeing her enter the kitchen, Bob went out to the dining room to give them space and take a turn at the Linda-Gene-Courtney wrangling.

“How we doing, buddy?” she asked quietly, coming up beside Logan and placing his water bottle within arm’s reach, but not in the direct way of his dough.

“Why are they here?” he ground out just as quietly, maybe being a little more aggressive in his kneading than he usually was. 

“Sound check for tomorrow, or something,” Louise rolled her eyes. Gene and his wife were the definition of dramatic, having carried their short lived careers on Broadway all the way back to Seymour’s Bay. “Did something happen, or are you just stressed out for tomorrow?”

Logan placed his hands flat on the work surface and took a deep breath. 

“She’s sleeping with him,” he said, forcing his arms to keep his fingers flat in front of him.

“Gene and Courtney are married; of course, they’re sleeping together,” Louise tried to deflect, earning herself a glare.

“You know I don’t mean them. I mean Courtney and Alex.”

“How do you know?”

“All the little looks,” to give himself something to do, Logan took a drink, “plus Alex has had his hand on Courtney’s ass since they got here.”

Louise sighed, “fair enough.”

“Did you know?”

“I make it my business not to know about my brother’s sex life or the intimate details of his marriage, just like I make it my business that he doesn’t know about mine. That’s been working out pretty well for us so far.”

“You know about stuff with Tina and Zeke.”

“Not a lot, and that’s different. Tina’s my sister. And Tina and Zeke are beside the point.”

“Then what  _ is  _ the point?” It was very rare, but every once in a while, when he was very stressed out, Logan’s tone took on the character it had when she had first met him, and detested the fifteen year old. Sometimes she had the luxury of letting it set her off and they would have a magnificent fight. Tonight was not one of those times.

Taking a deep breath, Louise tried to remain an adult. “You tell me what the point is; you’re the one that’s so upset.”

“She’s cheating on him.” This was starting to make more sense. Adultery was the number one crime in Logan’s book. It cut him in ways Louise still couldn’t really understand. It didn’t matter how much counseling either of them got, together or separately, something about cheaters sparked his rage in a primal way.

“I don’t think it counts as cheating if everyone involved knows about it.” Gene and Courtney had an open marriage, and both of them took equal opportunity of that fact. She thought Logan had known this.

“It’s still cheating.”

“It’s their life; their marriage.”

“Why did they get married at all if they were just going to bone anyone who crossed their path?”

“For  _ their  _ reasons. Logan, you don’t get to play morality police on someone else’s relationship.”

“It’s just…” he paused, and crossed his arms over his chest, folding in on himself, “if they were just dating, I wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t even care if they were living together. But they got  _ married _ . Didn’t that mean anything? Was it just to have a party and get the attention?”

Privately, and she would never admit it, Louise had a suspicion that Gene and Courtney had a wedding for that very reason. But again, that was their business, not hers and certainly not Logan’s.

“What happens if they have kids?” he had continued while Louise tried to figure out how to have this argument here with him without alerting everyone else.

“They don’t want to have kids.”

“Yeah, well, we weren’t planning on Peyton, either. Sometimes things just happen.”

“Then they happen,” she snapped. “Logan, what happens with Gene and Courtney has no bearing on what happens with us.”

“But everyone’s fine with it.”

“You’re not fine with it.”

“But I’m not really family, am I?”

Louise just stared at him. “Are you kidding? After all this time, you don’t think you’re family here? In this place that you had a hand in building. You aren’t part of the family? What the fuck, Logan?” 

Unfortunately, her voice had risen enough that they got the attention of everyone in the dining room.

“Everything ok in there?” Bob asked hesitantly, having never really been a witness to a Louise/Logan brawl in their adulthood.

“It’s fine,” Louise called back, not breaking her eye battle with Logan. More quietly, she muttered to her husband, “do we need to take this outside?”

“Yeah, I think we do,” he huffed, shoving away from the work table and brushing past her to get to the alley. She turned on her heel and followed him, slamming the back door for good measure. Even though she was only a couple steps behind, Logan was already smashing bottles in the alley by the time the door thudded closed behind her.

“What the fuck is your problem, really?” Louise yelled, not particularly caring who may hear them.

“I don’t like what they’re doing,” he smashed another bottle.

“Yes, you’ve made that abundantly clear. What the fuck business is it of yours? That is their relationship, not ours!”

“But everyone acts like it’s no big deal. It IS a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to YOU. Everyone else is sane. And I can’t believe for one minute that whoever Courtney is fucking is what is really bothering you, so spit it out.”

“Why is it ok for them and not ok for you?!” he finally screamed.

“Why is sleeping around not ok for me? Are you serious? Because I am a different person than Gene or Courtney. And, while sometimes I wonder why, I married YOU, asshole.”

“Right, you married me, just like Gene and Courtney married each other. And you were so, so young when you did.” Logan just looked at her sadly.

Louise stared at him in shock. 

“Is that what you think? That I was too young to know what I was doing?”

“I knocked you up, Louise. You didn’t have a lot of options.”

“What? I had several options, and only one of them involved marrying you. Why are you dredging this up now? I thought we handled this eight years and three babies ago.”

Logan plopped down on the dirty ground in defeat. After a few minutes, he looked up at her. “Sometimes I worry that Peyton is my fault. That I was irresponsible or put the condom on wrong or something.”

“Which is probably what happened,” she looked at him, still confused, “it happens to, like, 15% of people. Who cares?”

“What if I did it on purpose?”

Louise stopped and stared at him.

“Did you do it on purpose?” she growled, almost wishing she had something sharp in her hands.

“Not consciously. But you’ve said it yourself: I’m a possessive only child. And I was and am so in love with you. What if I screwed something up to force you to stay with me?”

Louise blinked at him. Either he was finally admitting something that was going to get him murdered and her thrown in prison, or he had spontaneously unpacked some neurosis that she couldn’t believe hadn’t been discussed with his therapists before.

“Logan, because I love you and our children, I will believe your answer to this question. And I hope because you love me and our children that you will be honest in your answer. Did you impregnate me on purpose?”

She glared down at him, but he met and kept her eye contact. “Like I said, consciously, on purpose, no. I didn’t wreck a condom or not wear one or anything like that. I did everything that we had usually done.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “So then where the hell is this coming from?”

“I don’t want you to leave me,” now he did look away, “I don’t ever want you to leave me. I don’t want to be alone.”

“Logan, have I ever given you any indication that I’m interested in anyone else?”

“No,” he heaved a sigh.

“So why are you acting like this?”

He heaved another sigh. “Gene and Courtney are just as married as we are. They sleep with other people. Everyone in the family knows. No one has any problem with it. So I have to follow the logic that if you wanted to cheat on me, and you asked your mom or Tina for their opinion about it, they wouldn’t have a problem with it. And then where does that leave me?”

Louise plopped down beside Logan, finally starting to understand a little bit of his problem.

“Logan, being part of a family means that you accept your loved ones as they are. What works for one person isn’t necessarily going to work for you. But I’m not going to be judgemental and shun someone because their lifestyle is different from ours. What if it were Peyton, Nicky, or Juniper? Are you really willing to just cut them out of your life because you don’t like something they did?”

“No,” he looked horrified at the thought. He might love Louise nearly to the point of obsession, but he loved his children even more.

“There’s also a big difference between asking a family member what they think of a decision that you want to make versus the family member just blurting out their opinions.”

Logan nodded.

“And I had options when we found out about Peyton. I thought about each of them, with a professional counselor, that you insisted I see. After all that, I chose you. I haven’t ever regretted that decision.”

“Even though you were only nineteen and I had tortured you when you were a little kid?”

“I like to think I tortured you just as much. Plus, we both did a lot of growing up between the thing with the ears and walking down the aisle. I dated you because I found you attractive and you answered all my bullshit with enough of your own. I fell in love with you because of the man you are. And I had more children with you because I never doubt that when the going gets rough, we’re in this together and you will do whatever it takes for me and the kids to be safe, happy, and healthy.”

“I would,” he answered with a watery smile.

“I know. I have never had a doubt. Please don’t doubt me.”

“I don’t think you’re going to go looking for someone else. I just worry that one day you’re going to wake up and realize you can do better.”

“Better than someone who puts up with me and my crazy ass family to the point where a significant part of their financial success is thanks to you? You’re a fucking unicorn, and I’m smart enough to realize that. Shouldn’t we just be happy that we found someone else to match us and not worry about everything else?”

“That sounds like a really good idea,” Logan agreed, finally starting to look a little more at ease.

“You’re going to have to talk to Dr. Bouchard about this. I’m not your therapist.”

“I know. I’ll call and make an appointment on Monday.”

“Are you going to behave yourself around Gene and Courtney?”

“As long as you’re around, and he doesn’t pick a fight with me, yes, I will behave.”

“Ok. I think that’s about all I can ask for right now. Are you ok to go back inside?”

“I will be, in a couple minutes.”

“Do you want me to stay or go?”

Logan smirked at her. “What do you think?”

She snuggled closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her, laying his head over the top of hers and breathing in deeply. They sat like that for a few minutes, enjoying the quiet, before reality, and the smell of the dumpsters, set in.

TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL

Louise could hear the yelling before she even entered the back door of the restaurant to the kitchen. She had been gone for fewer than five minutes, just enough time to take a small bag of trash out to the dumpsters. But it had apparently been long enough for Gene to get Logan to start yelling.

“You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about!” Logan was replying at the loudest volume possible by the time she made it into the dining room. Logan was closer to the restroom. Gene, having arrived last, was sitting on a stool at the counter nearest the front door. Zeke was leaning up against the booths, standing between them, looking ready to physically throw himself in the middle if it looked like violence was about to happen. And the violence would be on Logan’s part. Gene threw punches with words, not fists. Logan wasn’t as picky. Zeke visibly relaxed when he saw Louise come around and stand next to Logan. 

“What the hell is going on?” she asked, glaring at her brother. She knew that whatever had gotten Logan’s hackles up was Gene’s fault. He had been completely insufferable since he had gone to college. Every time he came home from New York his nose was higher and higher in the air. The only one who could stand him these days was Linda. He was home for a week for Thanksgiving. Louise was hugely pregnant and her patience was at an all time low. Logan was there helping her and Zeke clean up for the night, but apparently Gene decided to come down to “where the people are.” He wasn’t helping, merely sitting on his ass and watching the other three do their work.

“Your husband is being a shit,” Gene said smugly. Louise could swear she could hear Logan grinding his teeth.

She looked at Zeke. “Well?” she asked the only male in the room she could trust in that moment.

Zeke sighed, “Gene had some negative things to say about your pregnancy.” 

“And marriage,” Logan ground out.

Louise crossed her arms over her chest and rested them on her bump. “Piss off, Gene. We’re busy here, and you’re either going to get up off your fat ass and help or you can run along upstairs and let the grownups work.”

“My fat ass? You’re the one who’s the size of a house!” that was fair, she had immediately gone for Gene’s achilles heel. He had always been husky, and while he didn’t seem to like it all that much, he didn’t try to change it either.

“I’m growing a human, what’s your excuse?” Yeah, patience was nonexistent these days with this frigging kid either practicing soccer with her bladder or laying on her spine.

“At least I’m not too stupid to knock someone up!”

“You mean to tell me that there are actual consenting females that let you within dick length of them? Wow, I guess there are all kinds.”

“Fuck you, Louise!”

“Hey!” Logan interceded, causing Zeke to take a step toward him.

“Blow me, Gene. You can get over yourself and help, tell us what your actual problem is, or get the hell out.”

“So a couple visits to shrink makes you an expert in psychology now?”

“No, but better than you who’s just torturing everyone around them with their piss poor attitude. Why did you bother coming home if we’re so far beneath you?”

“I came home so that Mom would have someone who appreciated her around for the holidays, Planned Parenthood. Thought you’d be too busy with your Bush.”

Any physical retaliation that was going to take place, and it was a toss up who would get to him first, Logan or Louise, was halted as Tina walked through the door. This time Zeke actually sagged into the booth, happy to leave refereeing to his girlfriend.

“Shut up, both of you,” Tina snapped, in a new and different tone than what they usually heard from her. “I’m tired, there’s too much to do and too little wine to have to deal with all this drama. Louise, sit down, you look like you’re gonna drop and all this aggravation can’t be good for the baby. Gene, stop being such an asshole. If we are doing something that’s bothering you, then tell us so we can deal with it. But if it’s something else and you’re just being a jerk to everyone because you’re so miserable, that’s different. Either way, if you’re going to be so shitty, go elsewhere. We all work here.”

“I work here, too,” Gene replied weakly, unprepared for Tina’s no-nonsense approach to her squabbling siblings. 

“No, you don’t. You haven’t actually worked here since you got into high school. Zeke and Louise have been picking up the slack so you could do other things,” Tina reminded him.

“It didn’t keep her so busy she kept her legs closed,” Gene muttered. Tina threw a full ketchup bottle at him. Still not athletic, it hit him square in the face.

“Don’t you dare slut shame someone for enjoying a satisfying sex life and then accepting the consequences of having one!” Tina continued. “You don’t get to be the only one who lives your life according to your own rules.”

“Did you have to knock her up?” Gene asked quietly, looking shamefacedly at Logan.

Four mouths hung open in shock. “It wasn’t like it was planned,” Logan replied to have something to say.

“It’s just, you four are making me look bad. Louise gets pregnant at nineteen but somehow manages to have it happen with a super mature person who marries her and has a house he can afford all ready for her. And perfect Tina with her perfect hunk of a boyfriend, college diploma on the wall and gainfully employed. You make it really hard sometimes.”

“Make what hard?” Louise asked.

“Being different.”

“Gene, you’ve  _ always  _ been different,” Louise said, “we’ve all always been different. I don’t understand.”

“You and Tina are both living the straight suburban dream. It’s hard to compete with that.”

“Why do you think you have to compete with that?” Tina asked. None of this was making sense.

“Because I don’t want to live that dream,” Gene said, looking as though the effort to admit it was taking a toll on him.

“Wait a minute, are you coming out?” Louise blurted, “because if you’re admitting you’re gay, it’s not like it’s that much of a surprise.”

“It’s not?” Gene asked.

“No,” Tina continued, “honestly, I never thought that one gender was going to be enough for you, so I was expecting bi at least.”

“Really?” Gene still looked shocked. And he was the only one in the room who did at this point.

“Gene,” Zeke began soothingly, “if you weren’t bi, you’d be a really weird dude.”

“So you aren’t shocked and appalled?”

“Where do you think we live, Saudi Arabia?” Louise asked, “I know this isn’t New York City, but it’s not like Seymour’s Bay is some sort of conservative enclave.”

“Seriously, you should see some of the paperwork I have to deal with as Mr. Fischoeder’s accountant. This might be a sleepy community, but it’s not conservative,”Logan added.

“Who are you really worried about, Gene?” Tina asked, moving forward to sling an arm around her brother.

“Dad,” Gene finally admitted. “I don’t think I’m the son he signed up for.”

“I don’t think any of us are what he thought he was signing up for, Gene, and that includes Mom,” Tina replied, “but he’s pretty good about going with the flow. And he’s never tried to stop any of us from being who we are. I really don’t think he has some kind of Norman Rockwell vision of who his son is. I mean, you’re majoring in theater production.” She smiled at him.

“Yeah, and I have a feeling that Dad would end up somewhere in the middle of the Kinsey scale himself, so he’s certainly not going to get upset with you if you have a non-traditional lifestyle. He’s just going to care if you are safe, and healthy, and happy,” Louise added, feeling some sympathy for her brother.

“You don’t think I’ll be disappointing him?” Gene asked.

“I think he’d only be disappointed by how shitty your being to your family,” Tina remarked.

Gene looked at her, “you’re right. I’m sorry for what I said, Louise.”

Tina cleared her throat. “Logan is family, too.”

Gene took her glare and sighed, “I’m sorry for picking a fight with you, Logan. But I don’t like any of what you’ve done to my sister, from stealing her ears, to threatening to fart on her, to getting her pregnant.”

“Glad to know that I have agency in all the things that have happened in my life,” Louise sneered.

“He’s way older than you, Louise; he should have acted better.”

“Fuck off, Gene.”

“No,” Logan said, putting a hand on her arm, “he’s right. I am a lot older than you. My behavior when we were kids should have been better. But I don’t regret getting you pregnant. I’ll do it a hundred more times if you want.”

“Gross,” Louise smiled at him, “let’s see if we can handle this one, first, ok?” She decided to forgive him for touching her in that moment.

“Gross, indeed.” Gene said.

“We’ve almost got this place cleared up,” began Zeke, “why don’t we finish up real fast and then go over to Sleakeasys by the boardwalk for drinks? They just launched a line of mocktails, Lou.”

Everyone agreed that this would be a good plan. The five of them had the restaurant cleaned up in no time, Gene even helping this time, and were walking down Ocean Ave together as soon as the door was locked and the lights were off. But they made sure to keep Logan and Gene on opposite ends of the group for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to anyone who thinks that I treated Gene unfairly. Honestly, most of the time, I think he's a great brother, and he DOES protect Louise from Logan when they are children. However, there's something about him that puts me on edge. I don't know. Kudos to the writers and actor that created such a multi-dimensional character that causes emotional responses.
> 
> To my mind, this was the best burger/cocktail combo of all of them. The Bloody Mary paired really nicely with the meatiness of the burger. Plus, it gave my family-member/bartender a lot of creative license with the garnish.


	6. Saturday: The Goat of the "Mean Old Farmer of Rt 6" burger (goat cheese, arugula, and caramelized onions) and a Tinto de Verano

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opening Day is HERE!

#  Saturday: 

#  The Goat of the "Mean Old Farmer of Rt 6" burger (goat cheese, arugula, and caramelized onions) and a Tinto de Verano

Louise didn’t know what she had been expecting, but this was not it. Honestly, considering how they made it look on TV and in movies, labor and giving birth didn’t seem to be that bad. However, she was really young, so she was sure that was helping.

The only thing that did seem like pop culture was that nothing was going according to plan. She had expected a giant whoosh and then a flood of liquid when her water broke, which she was sure would happen during the dinner rush at the restaurant. Then it would be excruciating pain while Logan broke every traffic law known to man trying to get to the hospital, only to be there for hours and hours waiting for the baby to arrive. 

It wasn’t anything like that at all.

She and Logan had walked home from the restaurant that night. It wasn’t too cold out yet and the natural childbirth class they had taken stressed the importance of staying active, especially by walking. She felt really good. She didn’t think she’d ever feel completely ready, but she felt ready enough. The pair of them had had a nesting binge the previous weekend, so the baby’s room was ready along with her go bag and they had a fridge and freezer stocked with easy-to-heat food. Now, all they had to do was bide their time. Her due date was approaching, but she knew that was just a best guess. Her last doctor appointment told her she was only a couple of centimeters dilated, nothing to write home about. It was just a calm, relaxed evening.

After dinner, she took a shower and got ready for bed. Her back had ached throughout the day, but they were getting to the point where she didn’t remember a time when her back hadn’t ached, so nothing new there. During her shower, she felt a little crampy, but it went away.

And then it came back.

And then it went away.

And this kept happening in pretty regular intervals.

When he came upstairs to go to bed, Logan found Louise pacing in the hallway.

“What’s up?” he had asked nonchalantly.

“My body hurts,” she replied as she continued her walk. When the pain stopped, she went to lay down on the bed, only to get up again in a couple minutes and restart her pacing.

After the third time, as she laid back down again, Logan started talking, “I think we should call the doctor.”

“Why?” Louise asked, half falling asleep, “my back hurts all the time.”

“Is this your back hurting, or are these contractions?” he asked in that modulated way he had that told Louise he was trying not to freak out.

Her eyes snapped open. Contractions?

Contractions.

Shit.

“But these aren’t like the book or the videos or the class described,” she reasoned.

“How are they different?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed and got up to start pacing again, “they aren’t horrible.”

“All of those things did say that every pregnancy is different. Maybe this is what contractions feel like for you.”

“That can’t be right. This is too easy.”

“Maybe having babies is your superpower,” he said, earning himself a glare.

“Don’t get any….” she had to stop and breathe for a second. That cramp was more intense, “don’t get any ideas.”

“Ok, that was definitely a contraction,” Logan grabbed his phone, “I’m calling the doctor.”

Once they had finally reached their doctor thanks to the answering service, they received the go ahead to go to the hospital. The chilly, almost winter night didn’t see a lot of traffic in Seymour’s Bay, so they made it to the medical center in no time at all and Louise had only counted seven of the “contractions” before they were situated in her room. Then they just stared at each other, waiting for the real show to start.

Louise had made the executive decision to wait until after the baby was born to call anyone. She didn’t want to have to deal with labor and giving birth while keeping dueling grandparents at bay and whatever Logan threw at her. To her mind, it made sense. She and Logan were the only ones there when the baby got created; they should be the only ones there when it was born.

She did her best to put on a neutral face while the bubbly hospital administrator handed her paper after paper to sign, regardless of how powerful the contractions were getting. She much preferred Sally, the no-nonsense nurse, who shoved the admin out as soon as possible and only stuck her head in every half hour or so to see how Louise was doing. The anesthesiologist was where Louise lost her patience.

After the ghoul stuck her hand for the fourth time “trying to find a vein,” Louise snatched her hand back and threatened to punch her.

“Ok,” said Sally, hearing the commotion from the hall, “Gertrude, if you can’t find what you’re looking for on her hand, just use the inside of her elbow, for Christ’s sake.”

“But the hand is better,” Gertrude whined.

“Well, then, I’m not giving you first aid when she uses those needles to tear your face off.”

Gertrude, despite her argument, did as the nurse said and left as quickly as possible.

“Thanks,” said Logan once the ghoul was gone, “I didn’t want to get in the middle of that.”

“No problem,” Sally replied, “too bad you’re here so late. The day guy is much more efficient. I don’t think he likes to be here in the Vagina Hall.” After chuckling, she turned to Louise, “better?”

“Do I have to have the IV?” she pulled miserably at where her arm was tethered to the pole and bag.

“It’ll keep you from getting dehydrated, which will help you feel better overall. What’s the matter with it.”

“I don’t like needles or knives,” Louise admitted.

“Not volunteering for an epidural, then?” Sally smirked.

“Nope.”

“Ok, well, let me know if you change your mind. I’m sure I could find a bottle of Jack or something if you’d prefer.”

“Really?” Logan looked like he wanted to be clutching his pearls in shock.

“Well, it’s not regulation, but you never know. Why they let you have drugs when giving birth and not booze makes no sense to me.”

“Doesn’t alcohol cross the placenta?”

“Yeah, but how much longer is the kid going to be attached to the placenta?” With that, Sally left them to go check on another patient, giving Louise the excuse to not have to explain that she was too young to legally drink in any case.

After that, things moved rapidly. The contractions got more intense, but then almost immediately led to pushing, to the point where Louise’s doctor almost didn’t make it to the hospital on time, assuming that, as a first pregnancy, the baby would take its time.

Six hours later, everything was delivered, and everyone was cleaned up. Louise was moved into the maternity ward to the room that would be her home for the next three days. Logan went with the baby as it got washed and checked out. He had also called all the family, including Mr. Fischoeder, to let them know about the baby’s arrival.

Louise had just started dozing off when her mother’s shriek woke her.

“Oh, my baby!” Linda cried from the doorway, rushing in and embracing Louise while she was too out of it to fight her off.

“Hey, Mom,” Louise said, patting her mom’s back slightly until the embrace got to be too tight and then she started swatting her, trying to pry her off.

“Oh, I can’t believe this day has come already! Don’t worry about anything, I’m going to stay with you and Logan for six weeks while you get back on your feet.” 

Louise’s eyes grew wide and she shared a desperate look with her dad over her mother’s shoulder.

“Um, Lin, I don’t think you need to do that. They live right in town.”

“Right, and besides, I won’t be able to help out at the restaurant for a little while, so Dad and Zeke will need you there,” Louise added after she got over her shock.

“But you don’t know how to change diapers or anything.”

“We took a class, Mom, and we’ll be sure to call if we need any help.”

“I’m sure  _ Cynthia  _ will be around, too,” Linda muttered under her breath.

“I guarantee you that she won’t be staying with us. I think Logan and his mom in one setting for too long is a recipe for arson.”

“That is definitely true,” said Logan from the doorway. He smiled briefly at Bob and Linda before going over to sit beside Louise on the edge of the bed.

“Where’s the baby?” asked Linda accusingly, as though Logan had already proven what a bad father he was by leaving a newborn somewhere unattended.

“Finishing up on the baby tanning bed,” he replied, “they’ll be in in a minute or so.”

His prediction was proved true before he even finished his sentence, as Sally walked in pushing the isolet. 

“What are you still doing here?” Louise asked, realizing that they had all been at the hospital for hours.

“Going off shift, so I thought I’d bring in your special delivery on my way out,” she looked at Louise, “are you sure you don’t want any pacifiers or anything?”

“No, we’re good.”

“Ok, sweetie. I’ll probably drop in to see you tomorrow. Congratulations, you two. You did a great job. One of the easiest births I’ve ever seen.” They said farewell to their new friend and turned to the baby.

Logan smirked at Louise, “see, I told you that was your superpower.”

“Shut up,” Louise said, “ok, do you want to hold him?”

“Him,” Bob said softly, smiling that dumb Dad smile he had.

“Oh, you had a boy,” Linda’s voice was subdued in wonder.

“Yup, Robert Peyton Bush,” Logan said, “we thought we’d call him ‘Peyton’ so there’s no confusion between him and his grandpa.”

“Oh, Bobby,” Linda sounded like she was holding back tears, but got her camera out in time to snap a photo of Logan placing the baby in Bob’s arms.

“Hi, Peyton,” Bob said, looking down at the baby, and then up at Louise, “I still can’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it,” Louise said, “he’s stuck with us now.”

“Yeah,” said Bob, “stuck with us.”

And then he smiled at his daughter and son-in-law, who sat across from the room from him.

“See, I told you, Bobby,” Linda said, gazing at her first grandchild, “Sometimes change can be a good thing.”

TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL

Gene tapped the microphone to get everyone’s attention and then handed it to Bob, who took it and then turned to address the restaurant with a nervous gulp.

“It’s hard to believe that I’m really standing here, celebrating the reopening of our family’s restaurant. This has been a dream of mine for a long time...a long time. I’ve always been in the restaurant business: working as a kid with my dad, opening this place, and then working alongside my own kids. Getting through the day to day was always enough of a challenge, so I never really thought about what it would look like when my kids were grown. I had hopes and dreams like everyone else. But that’s all they were, hopes and dreams, smoke and wishes. I didn’t want to think too much about them, because I didn’t want to be disappointed. I hoped that the restaurant would stay open for another generation. But then Tina grew up, and was pulled in another direction that suited her better. And then Gene grew up and had always had too much personality to work a grill,” he chuckled at that, along with everyone else, “and I figured that the same would happen with Louise.”

He turned to smile at his youngest daughter.

“But while I was trying to get through every day, and not putting too much stock into hopes and dreams, a curious thing happened...Louise was growing up and all but elbowed me out of the way of the grill. And then other things happened. Courtney came in and gave Gene someone to work with who met him on every level. Tina brought a new member into the family in Zeke, who made quite a team with Louise, and I suddenly had time off. And thanks to my first son-in-law, Logan, I had money to spend in that time off, and I could treat my long-suffering wife, Linda, to some of the finer things. Lin, who has stood by me through thick and thin, in poorer and even poorer, and never once turned and ran. And who told me the most important thing: sometimes, change can be good. Sometimes it can be wonderful. And we can get through anything together, as a family.

“So I ask you to raise your glass,” he stopped briefly to lift his cocktail, “in a cheer to family, and to change!”

“To Family!” repeated the crowd, “To Change!”

There was a heartbeat of silence as everyone took a sip of their drink. Immediately afterward, Gene and Courtney got the music started up again. 

Louise elbowed her way through the packed house and gave her father a short, but tight, hug. “That was a great speech, Dad.”

“That was great work you did, Louise.”

“With what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“With everything. The rebranding was all you. Yes, we all helped in our ways, but you were the heart of the project. This success, this night, is all thanks to you.”

The praise was making her uncomfortable.

“Hopefully, the momentum will continue and this won’t just be a fluke.”

“It will continue. You’ve done your research, you’ve planned carefully, and you’ve been creative. To be honest, you’ve done far more than I ever did.”

“But you had to do everything; I had help,” she said, not wanting her dad to belittle all his efforts.

“I could have done more, I was just too afraid to.”

“It has been scary.”

“And you didn’t let that stop you.”

“I have sometimes.”

“No, you haven’t; you just want to think you have. You’ve been stubborn as a mule and driven since the day you were born. You never really let anything get in your way: not your weird family, or lack of opportunity, or Millie, or Logan, or anything. You’ve always existed on sheer will. And we’re all better for it.”

Louise just blinked at him. “Do you really think so?”

Bob smiled, “I know so, Chick. Now why don’t you go harass your husband and I’ll go embarrass your mother?”

“Sounds like a tall order. Linda doesn’t embarrass easy.”

“I know. I’m looking forward to the change,” he winked at her and started to move away. Louise rolled her eyes but smiled. Her parents were...her parents. There wasn’t really one word that would describe them.

Now that Bob’s big speech was over, work began with a frenzy again. Tina and Linda were behind the counter taking orders. Zeke was on the grill and Logan was helping plate up in the back. As much as there was a ton of activity back there and it was stupid hot thanks to the grill going at full speed, it was still more comfortable than the sea of people in the dining room. Louise slipped into the kitchen.

“Zeke, do you need a break?” she asked, throwing on a clean apron.

“I could use one, if you don’t mind,” he replied, already stepping away fluidly so that she could replace him.

“Don’t I get a break? I’ve been slinging plates for hours,” Logan asked, sting from the whine removed by the smirk he gave her.

“It hasn’t been hours, and you can have a break when someone comes in to relieve you,” Louise didn’t even look at him as she flipped over more patties and added cheese where necessary, “besides, don’t you want to spend time with your wife?”

“Any time you’ll give me, bunny-girl.”

She did smile at him at that.

The pace continued until near closing time. Thankfully, Cynthia and Tom had left with Peyton, Nikki, and Juniper hours before, and the children would be staying with their other grandparents for the night. Louise did not envy the Bushes having to deal with overstimulated children, but even three of them were probably only half as troublesome as one of Logan had been. 

By 1 a.m., the last patron had gone, the last burger eaten, the last dish washed, and the last penny counted. The Belchers, both by blood and marriage, all sat wearily around the dining room, relishing a busy night.

A loud POP caused them all to flinch and then turn to glare at Gene.

“I almost forgot,” he said, brandishing a newly opened bottle of champagne and quickly pouring everyone a glass. “Drink up, everyone; we certainly deserve it.”

“I’ll have yours, Tina,” Linda said, reaching out to grab her oldest daughter’s glass, “I have some sparkling grape juice for you in the fridge, hold on.”

Zeke and Tina just blinked at her as she rose to get the mocktail.

“What?” was all Tina could spit out.

“What? Did you really think I didn’t know you were pregnant? Teeny-Weeny, I’ve known every time you’ve been pregnant.”

Louise could see her sister gulp and look nauseous. 

“Every time?” Zeke asked.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Tina asked.

“Because I knew you would tell me when you were ready, just like your sister.”

“You didn’t wait this time,” Louise remarked, causing Linda to stop briefly.

“Oh,” Linda said, “I guess you’re right. Eh, chalk it up to being overtired, over excited, and having had one too many Tinto De Veranos. Ha ha!”

“Speaking of, Linda, did you eat anything today?” Bob asked.

“I’ll have some crackers,” LInda replied, and then proceeded to ask the crackers where they were hiding in the kitchen until she found them.

“Good thing we always keep some snacks in there,” Zeke muttered under his breath.

Logan raised an eyebrow, “Aren’t those…?”

“Juniper’s crackers? Yup,” his brother-in-law replied.

“Ok. I guess they could be good for sucking up some booze, too.” Logan looked over when Louise bumped his arm. “Hey bunny-girl, congratulations on a great night.”

“Yeah,” she said simply, smiling with contentment. “Ready to get out of here?”

“You don’t want to celebrate more?”

“With these chumps? I see them every day. I’m tired, and it’s been a long night.”

“Sure thing,” he checked to make sure that he had his keys, wallet, and phone, “Good night all!” He called, “See you tomorrow!”

“Goodnight,” chorused the rest, and then Logan and Louise turned to walk home, just like they had the night Peyton had been born, only it was much, much warmer.

“That went really well,” Logan remarked after they had gone a block or two in silence.

“Yeah.” In his opinion, Louise was being much too quiet.

He stopped walking, and rested a hand on her arm to get her to stop, too.

“Are you ok?” he asked, bending so that he could look directly into her face.

“Yeah. It’s just been a lot. And my dad was being weird. He said that he was too afraid to do anything big about the restaurant before now...before I forced him to.”

“Some people are afraid of success, and they sabotage themselves without realizing it. Or sometimes they do realize it, but they won’t admit it.”

She looked up at him, “do you really think that’s what he did.”

“A lot of times, yeah. Your dad is an incredibly creative, gifted chef. He didn’t have to work in a hole in the wall greasy spoon his whole life. But success demands risk, and he wasn’t willing to do that when he was just starting out and then he had his family as an excuse to explain why he wouldn’t.”

“Success demands risk, huh?”

“Absolutely, I know from first-hand experience. It was a risk to approach you when I came home from college, it was a risk to kiss you that first time, it was a risk to ask you to marry me. But every single one of them was worth it. I have an amazing wife and partner; a happy, loving home; and beautiful children. It was absolutely worth the risk to be this successful.”

She smiled at him. “You are such a sap.”

“You bet I am.”

“I guess you’re right. The rebrand was a risk, albeit a calculated one.”

“And look how successful it is. And you aren’t your dad, Louise; you aren’t afraid of the big picture stuff. That’s how I know it will stay a success.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so. You can always threaten people if sales start to slide.”

“I can,” she smiled and stepped closer to him, “I know I don’t say it all that often, but I love you, Logan, and you were worth the risk.”

She leaned in and kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I thrilled with this chapter? Not fully; although on a re-read, it turned out better than I thought it was on when writing it. I DO like the first section, but there was a lot of anxiety about writing the reopening. :)
> 
> This burger and cocktail pairing was probably the best one, so it was a perfect ending. Message me if you want to see what they look like.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I made all the burgers (and a family member made the cocktails). Yes, I took photos of each. I've been trying to post them on here but the technology is uncooperative. ::sigh:: If you have some troubleshooting tips, I'd appreciate it. :)


End file.
